Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars
Jennifer C. Stern
(1)
,
Brad Sutter
(2)
,
Caroline Freissinet
(1)
,
Rafael Navarro-González
(3)
,
Christopher P. Mckay
(4)
,
P. Douglas Archer
(2)
,
Arnaud Buch
(5)
,
Anna E. Brunner
(6, 1)
,
Patrice Coll
(7)
,
Jennifer L. Eigenbrode
(1)
,
Alberto G. Fairen
(8, 9)
,
Heather B. Franz
(10, 1)
,
Daniel P. Glavin
(1)
,
Srishti Kashyap
(11, 12)
,
Amy C. Mcadam
(1)
,
Douglas W. Ming
(13)
,
Andrew Steele
(14)
,
Cyril Szopa
(15)
,
James J. Wray
(16)
,
F. Javier Martín-Torres
(17, 18)
,
Maria-Paz Zorzano
(9)
,
Pamela G. Conrad
(1)
,
Paul R. Mahaffy
(1)
1
GSFC -
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
2 JSC - NASA Johnson Space Center
3 Laboratorio de Química de Plasmas y Estudios Planetarios [Mexico]
4 ARC - NASA Ames Research Center
5 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038
6 SESE - ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration
7 LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques
8 Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
9 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
10 CRESST - Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology [GSFC]
11 CRP Henri Tudor - Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor [Technoport]
12 Department of Microbiology [Amherst]
13 ARES - Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science
14 Geophysical Laboratory [Carnegie Institution]
15 PLANETO - LATMOS
16 School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences [Atlanta]
17 IACT - Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra
18 Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering [Luleå]
2 JSC - NASA Johnson Space Center
3 Laboratorio de Química de Plasmas y Estudios Planetarios [Mexico]
4 ARC - NASA Ames Research Center
5 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038
6 SESE - ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration
7 LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques
8 Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
9 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
10 CRESST - Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology [GSFC]
11 CRP Henri Tudor - Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor [Technoport]
12 Department of Microbiology [Amherst]
13 ARES - Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science
14 Geophysical Laboratory [Carnegie Institution]
15 PLANETO - LATMOS
16 School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences [Atlanta]
17 IACT - Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra
18 Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering [Luleå]
Caroline Freissinet
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 183739
- IdHAL : caroline-freissinet
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6528-330X
- IdRef : 152939725
Rafael Navarro-González
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 766149
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6078-7621
Arnaud Buch
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 6656
- IdHAL : arnaud-buch
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2097-7252
- IdRef : 060826037
Cyril Szopa
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 175829
- IdHAL : cyril-szopa
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0090-4056
- IdRef : 068537921
Résumé
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has detected oxidized nitrogen-bearing compounds during pyrolysis of scooped aeolian sediments and drilled sedimentary deposits within Gale crater. Total N concentrations ranged from 20 to 250 nmol N per sample. After subtraction of known N sources in SAM, our results support the equivalent of 110–300 ppm of nitrate in the Rocknest (RN) aeolian samples, and 70–260 and 330–1,100 ppm nitrate in John Klein (JK) and Cumberland (CB) mudstone deposits, respectively. Discovery of indigenous martian nitrogen in Mars surface materials has important implications for habitability and, specifically, for the potential evolution of a nitrogen cycle at some point in martian history. The detection of nitrate in both wind-drifted fines (RN) and in mudstone (JK, CB) is likely a result of N2 fixation to nitrate generated by thermal shock from impact or volcanic plume lightning on ancient Mars. Fixed nitrogen could have facilitated the development of a primitive nitrogen cycle on the surface of ancient Mars, potentially providing a biochemically accessible source of nitrogen.