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Book Chapter10.1017/cbo9780511712258.003

The legacy of aqueous environments on soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys: contexts for future exploration of martian soils

J. Barrett,Michael A. Poage,M. N. Gooseff,Cristina Takacs‐Vesbach-2010-04-29-Cambridge University Press eBooks
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TL;DRAbstract

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest and one of the most southernly exposed terrestrial antarctic environments (Ugolini and Bockheim,2008) and have been a prominent analog environment for speculations about surface processes (Mahaney et al., 2001; Dickenson and Rosen, 2003; Marchant and Head, 2007) and potential biology (McKay, 1997; Wynn-Williams and Edwards, 2000) on Mars. The extremes in cold and aridity, the paucity of visually conspicuous life forms, and the undisturbed conditions of the McMurdo Dry Valleys make this region an obvious candidate for such comparisons. Recent discoveries of evidence demonstrating past and perhaps present availability of liquid water on the martian surface detected by the Mars Global Surveyor (Malin and Edgett, 2000; Baker, 2001) and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (Squires et al., 2004a; Haskin et al., 2005) have extended the foundation of these comparisons beyond similarities in climate to surface geomorphology, geochemistry, and mineralogy (Ch

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The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest and one of the most southernly exposed terrestrial antarctic environments (Ugolini and Bockheim,2008) and have been a prominent analog environment for speculations about surface processes (Mahaney et al., 2001; Dickenson and Rosen, 2003; Marchant and Head, 2007) and potential biology (McKay, 1997; Wynn-Williams and Edwards, 2000) on Mars. The extremes in cold and aridity, the paucity of visually conspicuous life forms, and the undisturbed conditions of the McMurdo Dry Valleys make this region an obvious candidate for such comparisons. Recent discoveries of evidence demonstrating past and perhaps present availability of liquid water on the martian surface detected by the Mars Global Surveyor (Malin and Edgett, 2000; Baker, 2001) and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (Squires et al., 2004a; Haskin et al., 2005) have extended the foundation of these comparisons beyond similarities in climate to surface geomorphology, geochemistry, and mineralogy (Ch

Keywords

MartianMars Exploration ProgramAstrobiologyGeologyEarth scienceMartian surfaceSoil waterPaleontology

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