Martian Magmatic Clay Minerals Forming Vesicles: Perfect Niches for Emerging Life?OPEN ACCESS 

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Jean-Christophe Viennet, Sylvain Bernard, Corentin Le Guillou, Violaine Sautter, Brian Grégoire, Albert Jambon, Sylvain Pont, Olivier Beyssac, Brigitte Zanda, Roger Hewins, Laurent Remusat

Astrobiology, Vol. 21, No. 5
Published Online: 30 Apr 2021 (Updated: 12 October 2021)

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“Mars was habitable in its early history, but the consensus is that it is quite inhospitable today, in particular because its modern climate cannot support stable liquid water at the surface. Here, we report the presence of magmatic Fe/Mg clay minerals within the mesostasis of the martian meteorite NWA 5790, an unaltered 1.3 Ga nakhlite archetypal of the martian crust. These magmatic clay minerals exhibit a vesicular texture that forms a network of microcavities or pockets, which could serve as microreactors and allow molecular crowding, a necessary step for the emergence of life. Because their formation does not depend on climate, such niches for emerging life may have been generated on Mars at many periods throughout its history, regardless of the stability or availability of liquid water at the surface. “

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