Study of 40 Australian Lakes Points Mars Life Search to Terra Sirenum

1 articles · Updated · Eos · Jul 27

Researchers sampled 40 acidic, saline lakes in Western Australia’s Yilgarn Craton across wet and dry seasons and found mineral patterns that closely match deposits in Mars’s Terra Sirenum region.
Those lake beds recorded long-lived groundwater activity and repeated wet-dry cycles, suggesting similar water-rock interactions may have shaped parts of Mars once considered products of magmatism.
Geochemistry varied sharply as hydrology shifted: some shallow lakes accumulated mostly salt, while others built aluminum-rich clays and iron oxides alongside changing acidity and salinity.
Western Australia’s extreme lakes still host diverse microbial life, leading the authors to argue Terra Sirenum could be one of the best places to search for evidence of past life on Mars.