Boron enrichment in martian clay

James D Stephenson; Lydia J Hallis; Kazuhide Nagashima; Stephen J Freeland

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064624

Boron enrichment in martian clay

PLoS One. 2013 Jun 6;8(6):e64624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064624. Print 2013.

Authors

James D Stephenson¹, Lydia J Hallis, Kazuhide Nagashima, Stephen J Freeland

Affiliation

¹ NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America. jds@ifa.hawaii.edu

Abstract

We have detected a concentration of boron in martian clay far in excess of that in any previously reported extra-terrestrial object. This enrichment indicates that the chemistry necessary for the formation of ribose, a key component of RNA, could have existed on Mars since the formation of early clay deposits, contemporary to the emergence of life on Earth. Given the greater similarity of Earth and Mars early in their geological history, and the extensive disruption of Earth's earliest mineralogy by plate tectonics, we suggest that the conditions for prebiotic ribose synthesis may be better understood by further Mars exploration.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Aluminum Silicates / chemistry*
Boron / analysis*
Clay
Earth, Planet
Exobiology
Extraterrestrial Environment / chemistry*
Geology
Mars*
Origin of Life

Substances

Aluminum Silicates
Boron
Clay

Grants and funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the NASA Astrobiology Institute under Cooperative Agreement No. NNA09DA77A issued through the Office of Space Science. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.