Mars is a borderline terrestrial planet. IF it passed through an earthlike phase (dense atmosphere, liquid water oceans..) for a long enough period of time, microbes would have probably evolved. Given the hardiness of microbes, there should still be microbes on Mars today around the equator, under rocks (chemoautotrophs) and under the sun exposed surfaces of rocks (photoautotrophs - employing photosynthesis). Crobes might also be found underground in volcanic hot spots where underground ice deposits have melted: the slopes of Mount Olympus and the the other volcanic mountains of the Tharsis shield system.. These warm spots would provide refugia for life that evolved when Mars was warmer and wetter, like earth.. The Tharsis shield has extensive systems of subsurface caves that could, theoretically, provide shelter for residual degenerate ecosystems.. (I sense the beginning of a scifi film: a team is sent to investigate the caves of the Tharsis shield after robots have detected biochemical signatures of life..) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharsis
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 21:44:31 +0000
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