What can lava tubes on Earth teach us about finding life on Mars? This is a recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how molecular biomarkers found in volcanic lava caves on Earth could teach us about ancient subsurface Earth environments which could serve as analogs for how life could have formed and evolved on Mars. This study holds the potential to help researchers expand the locations of finding life in unlikely environments, both on Earth and other worlds, as well.
For the study, the researchers examined mineral deposits in six lava tubes spread across Lanzarote, which is part of the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco but managed by Spain. Using sophisticated methods to analyze the deposits for signs of molecular biomarkers, the researchers identified signs that bacteria was active in the lava caves long ago due to calcium and sodium sulfates their instruments found. The researchers postulate that the reason these bacteria are preserved was due to the cooling lava acting as a shield against weathering that would otherwise erode the preservations away.
Image of organic-rich sulfate deposits inside a lava cave on the island of Lanzarote, Spain. (Credit: Bogdan Onac)
“This study adds to our understanding of geological and environmental changes on Earth and highlights lava tubes as potential refuges for microbial life, holding significant implications for astrobiology, particularly in identifying biosignatures on Mars and other celestial bodies,” said Dr. Bogdan Onac, who is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of South Florida and a co-author on the study.
Lava tubes have become an increasingly crucial topic of discussion within the scientific community regarding how future astronauts could live on Mars due to the increased shielding from cosmic and solar radiation that constantly bombards the Red Planet’s surface. Now, this study postulates how these lava tubes could be catacombs for past life on the Red Planet and could help determine if life ever existed on Mars, and if it exists there today.
What new discoveries will researchers make in Earth lava caves that could teach us about finding life beyond Earth in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Communications Earth & Environment, EurekAlert!, Wikipedia
