WARC DISCOVERIES
Below we summarize major research findings and discoveries in Astrobiology that have been made recently by WARC researchers. In addition to funding from NASA, these projects may have been supported by other funding agencies.
2011
Strontium in dolomite as a potential inorganic biomarker
Understanding how aragonite forms
Stepping Stones Toward Global Space Exploration
Microbially-driven iron isotope fractionation in simulated Archean marine sediments indicate a major role for bacteria in iron formation genesis
Interactions between aqueous iron and poorly crystalline iron hydroxides demonstrate equilibrium atom exchange
2010
Cycling of electrons between iron oxides and aqueous iron provides insight into processes on the ancient Earth when oxygen was less
Improving accuracy for in situ oxygen isotope analysis magnetite and hematite - reducing variation due to crystal orientation
High precision in situ measurements of sulfur isotope ratios in sub-15 µm grains by SIMS
Evidence that ~ 2.5 Ga marine BIF carbonates formed through a multi-stage process involving dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria
Evidence for environmental and ecosystem diversity in a 2.7-2.5 billion-year-old sedimentary basin
Magnetite may be an important marker of biological activity
Synergies of Earth science and space exploration
Building long-term constituencies for space exploration: The challenge of raising public awareness and engagement
Discovery of the deepest hydrothermal vents on Earth, an analog for robotic exploration of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa
Identification of bioorganic molecule-promoted pathway of rapid amorphous solid formation, rather than direct mineral crystal templation, could help determine potential biomineral biosignatures on Mars and other solid worlds
Nitrate-reducing, iron-oxidizing bacteria produce largest iron isotope fractionations yet measured in microbial systems
High precision SIMS stable isotope analyses in minerals - problems and solutions
Study of modern chemically-precipitated sediment confirms probable role of iron-reducing bacteria in generation of isotopically-light iron-bearing minerals in Precambrian banded iron formations
2009
Laboratory experiments show that “iron-eating" bacteria can leave isotope fingerprints under conditions similar to ancient oceans
Carbonate geochemistry may shed light into potential biomarkers on Mars
Novel bacteria discovered in terrestrial alkaline springs that are potential Mars analog sites
What makes a planet habitable?
A new model for the origin of Banded Iron Formations tie ancient surface conditions on Earth to volcanic processes on the early earth
Molecular and physiological analysis of an iron-oxidizing, nitrate-reducing bacterial culture provides insight into chemolithoautotrophic life on Mars
2008
New insights into planetary soil analogs from laboratory studies
The basis for our genetic code was already in existence 4.5 billion years ago in the solar system
Comet dust reveals unexpected mixing of solar system material
Lithium in the world’s oldest minerals indicate an active weathering cycle in the first few hundred million years of Earth’s history
Isotopic evidence that microbial cycling of carbon, sulfur, and iron developed at different times in the first three billion years of Earth’s history
Evidence that “iron-eating" bacteria existed on the early Earth two to three billion years ago
2007
Early histories of the Earth and Moon: Similar, but different
Baked BIFs: Can isotopic biosignatures survive the effects of high-grade metamorphism in the Earth’s earliest sediments?
Preparing for in situ measurements of isotopic biosignatures on Mars
Promising new approaches in micro isotopic analysis of minerals that may record the earliest processes on Earth
The European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission and the search for the organic remnants of life on Mars
A breakthrough in our understanding of the iron isotope fingerprint that iron-eating bacteria may leave in the rock record
Can the iron contents of ancient soils really be used to estimate atmospheric oxygen contents in the early Earth?
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