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Mars may have sustained life which later caused deathly Ice Age, scientists say
Billions of years ago, ancient microbes on Mars likely triggered a deadly Martian Ice Age, as the sudden climate change possibly led to their own extinction, a report from Space.com suggests.
The study, which was published in Nature Astronomy, details how simple microbes previously filled ancient Mars. This was around the same time that the earliest life within Earth’s oceans formed.
Let’s take a look into the findings as ancient Martian life could have created conditions for their own demise…
Mars may have sustained life which later caused deathly Ice Age
French scientists have reported the Red Planet may have had an environment that was suitable for harboring underground microscopic organisms. If these life forms did exist, then the atmosphere would have been changed so much so that they triggered their own ‘Ice Age’, making themselves extinct.
This suggests how even simple life forms such as microbes “might actually commonly cause its own demise,” the study’s lead author and astrobiologist Boris Sauterey, announced. Adding that the results challenge us to rethink the way a biosphere and its planet interact.
Scientists study potential microbes on Mars
In the study, Sauterey and his team used climate and terrain models to analyze the habitability of Mars’ crust over 4 billion years ago. This was when the planet was a lot more habitable and is thought to have had water on it.
They conducted computer simulations mirroring the ancient atmosphere and lithosphere of Mars while adding microbes to the scenario.
They believe that microbes could have lived beneath the surface, using dirt as a barrier against radiation. However, Mars climate would have been put at risk by these microbes as they produced methane and sucked hydrogen out of the already thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere.
The scientists found that when the microbes produced methane they were actually cooling Mars. Sauterey reveals that the temperatures plunged by nearly minus-400 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-200 degrees Celsius), so any organisms would have had to bury deeper under the planet’s crust in order to stay warm and survive.
Scientists wonder ‘could Mars still be inhabited today?’
This investigation has propelled Sauterey to look further into microbial life. He is keen to know whether it could still exist deep within Mars.
He begs the question: Could Mars still be inhabited today by micro-organisms descending from this primitive biosphere? adding, “If so, where?
In fact, Sauterey and his team have pinpointed three locations where they believe Mars exploration missions might be able to find traces of the ancient microbes. The ancient lakebed of the Jezero Crater is one of the areas identified.
Interestingly, this is where NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently searching for signs of ancient life. Therefore, Sauterey’s study certainly sheds hope the findings will be successful. The other two areas suggested are located in the Hellas Planitia and Isidis Planitia.
The findings also display how Mars’ environment was not appropriate for the evolution of more complex life forms. Whereas Earth’s differences in its habitability as a planet have allowed for human evolution to take place.
