Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars

Jennifer L. Eigenbrode; Roger E. Summons; Andrew Steele; Caroline Freissinet; Maëva Millan; Rafael Navarro-González; Brad Sutter; Amy C. McAdam; Heather B. Franz; Daniel P. Glavin; Paul D. Archer; Paul R. Mahaffy; Pamela G. Conrad; Joel A. Hurowitz; John P. Grotzinger; Sanjeev Gupta; Doug W. Ming; Dawn Y. Sumner; Cyril Szopa; Charles Malespin; Arnaud Buch; Patrice Coll

doi:10.1126/science.aas9185

Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars

Jennifer L. Eigenbrode
, Roger E. Summons
, Andrew Steele
, Caroline Freissinet
, Maëva Millan
, Rafael Navarro-González
, Brad Sutter
, Amy C. McAdam
, Heather B. Franz
, Daniel P. Glavin
, Paul D. Archer
, Paul R. Mahaffy
, Pamela G. Conrad
, Joel A. Hurowitz
, John P. Grotzinger
, Sanjeev Gupta
, Doug W. Ming
, Dawn Y. Sumner
, Cyril Szopa
, Charles Malespin

Arnaud Buch, Patrice Coll

Geosciences

Stony Brook University

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institution of Washington
CNRS
Sorbonne Université
Georgetown University
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Jacobs Engineering
NASA Johnson Space Center
California Institute of Technology
Imperial College London
University of California at Davis
CentraleSupélec
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) - UMR 7583

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

473 Scopus citations

Abstract

Establishing the presence and state of organic matter, including its possible biosignatures, in martian materials has been an elusive quest, despite limited reports of the existence of organic matter on Mars. We report the in situ detection of organic matter preserved in lacustrine mudstones at the base of the ∼3.5-billion-year-old Murray formation at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. Diverse pyrolysis products, including thiophenic, aromatic, and aliphatic compounds released at high temperatures (500° to 820°C), were directly detected by evolved gas analysis. Thiophenes were also observed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Their presence suggests that sulfurization aided organic matter preservation. At least 50 nanomoles of organic carbon persists, probably as macromolecules containing 5% carbon as organic sulfur molecules.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1096-1101
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	360
Issue number	6393
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9185
State	Published - Jun 8 2018

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Eigenbrode, J. L., Summons, R. E., Steele, A., Freissinet, C., Millan, M., Navarro-González, R., Sutter, B., McAdam, A. C., Franz, H. B., Glavin, D. P., Archer, P. D., Mahaffy, P. R., Conrad, P. G., Hurowitz, J. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Gupta, S., Ming, D. W., Sumner, D. Y., Szopa, C., ... Coll, P. (2018). Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars. Science, 360(6393), 1096-1101. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9185

@article{ff2e96b1bda9466ebd066bf26331b796,

title = "Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars",

abstract = "Establishing the presence and state of organic matter, including its possible biosignatures, in martian materials has been an elusive quest, despite limited reports of the existence of organic matter on Mars. We report the in situ detection of organic matter preserved in lacustrine mudstones at the base of the ∼3.5-billion-year-old Murray formation at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. Diverse pyrolysis products, including thiophenic, aromatic, and aliphatic compounds released at high temperatures (500° to 820°C), were directly detected by evolved gas analysis. Thiophenes were also observed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Their presence suggests that sulfurization aided organic matter preservation. At least 50 nanomoles of organic carbon persists, probably as macromolecules containing 5\% carbon as organic sulfur molecules.",

author = "Eigenbrode, \{Jennifer L.\} and Summons, \{Roger E.\} and Andrew Steele and Caroline Freissinet and Ma{\"e}va Millan and Rafael Navarro-Gonz{\'a}lez and Brad Sutter and McAdam, \{Amy C.\} and Franz, \{Heather B.\} and Glavin, \{Daniel P.\} and Archer, \{Paul D.\} and Mahaffy, \{Paul R.\} and Conrad, \{Pamela G.\} and Hurowitz, \{Joel A.\} and Grotzinger, \{John P.\} and Sanjeev Gupta and Ming, \{Doug W.\} and Sumner, \{Dawn Y.\} and Cyril Szopa and Charles Malespin and Arnaud Buch and Patrice Coll",

year = "2018",

month = jun,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1126/science.aas9185",

language = "English",

volume = "360",

pages = "1096--1101",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

number = "6393",

}

Eigenbrode, JL, Summons, RE, Steele, A, Freissinet, C, Millan, M, Navarro-González, R, Sutter, B, McAdam, AC, Franz, HB, Glavin, DP, Archer, PD, Mahaffy, PR, Conrad, PG, Hurowitz, JA, Grotzinger, JP, Gupta, S, Ming, DW, Sumner, DY, Szopa, C, Malespin, C, Buch, A & Coll, P 2018, 'Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars', Science, vol. 360, no. 6393, pp. 1096-1101. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9185

TY - JOUR

T1 - Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars

AU - Eigenbrode, Jennifer L.

AU - Summons, Roger E.

AU - Steele, Andrew

AU - Freissinet, Caroline

AU - Millan, Maëva

AU - Navarro-González, Rafael

AU - Sutter, Brad

AU - McAdam, Amy C.

AU - Franz, Heather B.

AU - Glavin, Daniel P.

AU - Archer, Paul D.

AU - Mahaffy, Paul R.

AU - Conrad, Pamela G.

AU - Hurowitz, Joel A.

AU - Grotzinger, John P.

AU - Gupta, Sanjeev

AU - Ming, Doug W.

AU - Sumner, Dawn Y.

AU - Szopa, Cyril

AU - Malespin, Charles

AU - Buch, Arnaud

AU - Coll, Patrice

PY - 2018/6/8

Y1 - 2018/6/8

N2 - Establishing the presence and state of organic matter, including its possible biosignatures, in martian materials has been an elusive quest, despite limited reports of the existence of organic matter on Mars. We report the in situ detection of organic matter preserved in lacustrine mudstones at the base of the ∼3.5-billion-year-old Murray formation at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. Diverse pyrolysis products, including thiophenic, aromatic, and aliphatic compounds released at high temperatures (500° to 820°C), were directly detected by evolved gas analysis. Thiophenes were also observed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Their presence suggests that sulfurization aided organic matter preservation. At least 50 nanomoles of organic carbon persists, probably as macromolecules containing 5% carbon as organic sulfur molecules.

AB - Establishing the presence and state of organic matter, including its possible biosignatures, in martian materials has been an elusive quest, despite limited reports of the existence of organic matter on Mars. We report the in situ detection of organic matter preserved in lacustrine mudstones at the base of the ∼3.5-billion-year-old Murray formation at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. Diverse pyrolysis products, including thiophenic, aromatic, and aliphatic compounds released at high temperatures (500° to 820°C), were directly detected by evolved gas analysis. Thiophenes were also observed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Their presence suggests that sulfurization aided organic matter preservation. At least 50 nanomoles of organic carbon persists, probably as macromolecules containing 5% carbon as organic sulfur molecules.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85048586550

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DO - 10.1126/science.aas9185

M3 - Article

C2 - 29880683

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 360

SP - 1096

EP - 1101

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6393

ER -

Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars

Abstract

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