The perennially ice covered lakes of the cold and rainless deserts of the Antarctic, and by extension, Mars: implications for finding Martian life

A. T. Wilson

doi:10.1117/12.806579

28 August 2008 The perennially ice covered lakes of the cold and rainless deserts of the Antarctic, and by extension, Mars: implications for finding Martian life

A. T. Wilson

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7097, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XI; 70970Y (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.806579
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The salt geochemistry of Mars is predicted as an extrapolation of the salt geochemistry of the Dry (ice-free) Valleys in Antarctica. It is hard to escape the implication that there must be calcium/magnesium brine lakes in the enclosed drainage basins associated with the Northern Ice Cap. Because of the extreme cold these lakes will have acquired an ice cover. At the interface between the ice cover and the brine, one may find a thin layer of relatively fresh water. This might be the best and easiest place to look for Martian life.

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A. T. Wilson "The perennially ice covered lakes of the cold and rainless deserts of the Antarctic, and by extension, Mars: implications for finding Martian life", Proc. SPIE 7097, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XI, 70970Y (28 August 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.806579

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