Search for signs of ancient life on Mars: expectations from hydromagnesite microbialites, Salda Lake, Turkey

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dc.contributor.authorRussell, M. J.
dc.contributor.authorIngham, J. K.
dc.contributor.authorZedef, Veysel
dc.contributor.authorMaktav, D.
dc.contributor.authorSunar, F.
dc.contributor.authorHall, A. J.
dc.contributor.authorFallick, A. E.
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-26T16:27:18Z
dc.date.available2020-03-26T16:27:18Z
dc.date.issued1999
dc.departmentSelçuk Üniversitesien_US
dc.description.abstractThe 'White Rock', constituting a portion of what may be a lacustrine sedimentary sequence near the margin of a crater c. 90 km across in Sabaea Terra, Mars, measures 18 x 15 km x 180-540 m high. It is re-interpreted as a lens of magnesium carbonate precipitated where ground waters seeped into an ancient evaporating crater lake. Were life to have emerged on Mars, as seems feasible, then the 'White Rock' might be expected to comprise a complex of stromatolitic mounds. Salda Golu (Lake) in Turkey, is taken as an analogue. This enclosed lake is nearly surrounded and underlain by partially serpentinized harzburgite. Hydromagnesite stromatolites (microbialites) up to 7 m high coalesce to form a group of small islands 200 m across. The microbialites are seen to be growing near the mouth of the usually dry Salda River in the southwestern sector. Smaller developments of hydromagnesite encircle the lake and image processing of satellite data reveals a second extensive zone beneath the lake surface over a delta in the southeast. Individual columns a few centimetres high constitute bulbous mounds which are about 2 m in diameter. These columns terminate in domes a centimetre or so across. The domes are often annulated and are covered with a green biofilm a few millimetres thick comprised of cyanobactrial filaments. The columns consist of alternating fine and coarse hydromagnesite layers differentiated on a millimetric scale. The coarser layers near the surface still contain traces of the biofilm. Fossil microbialites were also discovered in the friable hydromagnesite cliffs shoreward of the main developments, though the structures of the individual microbes have not survived. Instead the vestiges of microbialites are easily recognized and delineated by their coarse grain size and high porosity. Annular structures on their upper surfaces can be seen in places. The intervening and overlying material, also comprised of hydromagnesite, is a semi-lithified mud. Bulbous megascopic structures, separated by finer grained magnesium carbonate mudstone, within strata in the 'White Rock', would be strong evidence of a photosynthetic microbial genesis. Another deposit of white rock on the western margin of Juventae Chasma could have a similar origin.en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1144/gsjgs.156.5.0869en_US
dc.identifier.endpage888en_US
dc.identifier.issn0016-7649en_US
dc.identifier.scopusqualityQ1en_US
dc.identifier.startpage869en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.156.5.0869
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12395/16977
dc.identifier.volume156en_US
dc.identifier.wosWOS:000082239900002en_US
dc.identifier.wosqualityQ1en_US
dc.indekslendigikaynakWeb of Scienceen_US
dc.indekslendigikaynakScopusen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherGEOLOGICAL SOC PUBL HOUSEen_US
dc.relation.ispartofJOURNAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETYen_US
dc.relation.publicationcategoryDiğeren_US
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessen_US
dc.selcuk20240510_oaigen_US
dc.subjectMarsen_US
dc.subjectWhite Rocken_US
dc.subjectcrater lakeen_US
dc.subjecthydromagnesiteen_US
dc.subjectmicrobialiteen_US
dc.subjectstromatoliteen_US
dc.titleSearch for signs of ancient life on Mars: expectations from hydromagnesite microbialites, Salda Lake, Turkeyen_US
dc.typeReviewen_US

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