Publications

A habitable fluvio-lacustrine environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars

Kemppinen O, Bridges N, Johnson JR, Minitti M, Cremers D, Bell JF, Edgar L, Farmer J, Godber A, Wadhwa M, Wellington D, McEwan I, Newman C, Richardson M, Charpentier A, Peret L, King P, Blank J, Weigle G, Schmidt M, Li S, Milliken R, Robertson K, Sun V, Baker M, Edwards C, Ehlmann B, Farley K, Griffes J, Grotzinger J, Miller H, Newcombe M, Pilorget C, Rice M, Siebach K, Stack K, Stolper E, Brunet C, Hipkin V, Léveillé R, Marchand G, Sobrón Sánchez P, Favot L, Cody G, Steele A, Flückiger L, Lees D, Nefian A, Martin M, Gailhanou M, Westall F, Israël G, Agard C, Baroukh J, Donny C, Gaboriaud A, Guillemot P, Lafaille V, Lorigny E, Paillet A, Pérez R, Saccoccio M, Yana C, Armiens-Aparicio C, Caride Rodríguez J, Carrasco Blázquez I, Gómez Gómez F, Gómez-Elvira J, Hettrich S, Lepinette Malvitte A, Marín Jiménez M, Martínez-Frías J, Martín-Soler J, Martín-Torres FJ, Molina Jurado A, Mora-Sotomayor L, Muñoz Caro G, Navarro López S, Peinado-González V, Pla-García J, Rodriguez Manfredi JA, Romeral-Planelló JJ, Sans Fuentes SA, Sebastian Martinez E, Torres Redondo J, Urqui-O'Callaghan R, Zorzano Mier MP, Chipera S, Lacour JL, Mauchien P, Sirven JB, Manning H, Fairén A, Hayes A, Joseph J, Squyres S, Sullivan R, Thomas P, Dupont A, Lundberg A, Melikechi N, Mezzacappa A, DeMarines J, Grinspoon D, Reitz G, Prats B, Atlaskin E, Genzer M, Harri AM, Haukka H, Kahanpää H, Kauhanen J, Paton M, Polkko J, Schmidt W, Siili T, Fabre C, Wray J, Wilhelm MB, Poitrasson F, Patel K, Gorevan S, Indyk S, Paulsen G, Gupta S, Bish D, Schieber J, Gondet B, Langevin Y, Geffroy C, Baratoux D, Berger G, Cros A, d'Uston C, Forni O, Gasnault O, Lasue J, Lee QM, Maurice S, Meslin PY, Pallier E, Parot Y, Pinet P, Schröder S, Toplis M, Lewin É, Brunner W, Heydari E, Achilles C, Oehler D, Sutter B, Cabane M, Coscia D, Szopa C, Dromart G, Robert F, Sautter V, Le Mouélic S, Mangold N, Nachon M, Buch A, Stalport F, Coll P, François P, Raulin F, Teinturier S, Cameron J, Clegg S, Cousin A, DeLapp D, Dingler R, Jackson RS, Johnstone S, Lanza N, Little C, Nelson T, Wiens RC, Williams RB, Jones A, Kirkland L, Treiman A, Baker B, Cantor B, Caplinger M, Davis S, Duston B, Edgett K, Fay D, Hardgrove C, Harker D, Herrera P, Jensen E, Kennedy MR, Krezoski G, Krysak D, Lipkaman L, Malin M, McCartney E, McNair S, Nixon B, Posiolova L, Ravine M, Salamon A, Saper L, Stoiber K, Supulver K, Van Beek J, Van Beek T, Zimdar R, French KL, Iagnemma K, Miller K, Summons R, Goesmann F, Goetz W, Hviid S, Johnson M, Lefavor M, Lyness E, Breves E, Dyar MD, Fassett C, Blake DF, Bristow T, DesMarais D, Edwards L, Haberle R, Hoehler T, Hollingsworth J, Kahre M, Keely L, McKay C, Bleacher L, Brinckerhoff W, Choi D, Conrad P, Dworkin JP, Eigenbrode J, Floyd M, Freissinet C, Garvin J, Glavin D, Harpold D, Mahaffy P, Martin DK, McAdam A, Pavlov A, Raaen E, Smith MD, Stern J, Tan F, Trainer M, Meyer M, Posner A, Voytek M, Anderson RC, Aubrey A, Beegle LW, Behar A, Blaney D, Brinza D, Calef F, Christensen L, Crisp JA, DeFlores L, Feldman J, Feldman S, Flesch G, Hurowitz J, Jun I, Keymeulen D, Maki J, Mischna M, Morookian JM, Parker T, Pavri B, Schoppers M, Sengstacken A, Simmonds JJ, Spanovich N, de la Torre Juarez M, Vasavada AR, Webster CR, Yen A, Archer PD, Cucinotta F, Jones JH, Ming D, Morris RV, Niles P, Rampe E, Nolan T, Fisk M, Radziemski L, Barraclough B, Bender S, Berman D, Noe Dobrea E, Tokar R, Vaniman D, Williams RM, Yingst A, Lewis K, Leshin L, Cleghorn T, Huntress W, Manhès G, Hudgins J, Olson T, Stewart N, Sarrazin P, Grant J, Vicenzi E, Wilson SA, Bullock M, Ehresmann B, Hamilton V, Hassler D, Peterson J, Rafkin S, Zeitlin C, Fedosov F, Golovin D, Karpushkina N, Kozyrev A, Litvak M, Malakhov A, Mitrofanov I, Mokrousov M, Nikiforov S, Prokhorov V, Sanin A, Tretyakov V, Varenikov A, Vostrukhin A, Kuzmin R, Clark B, Wolff M, McLennan S, Botta O, Drake D, Bean K, Lemmon M, Schwenzer SP, Anderson RB, Herkenhoff K, Lee EM, Sucharski R, de Pablo Hernández MÁ, Blanco Ávalos JJ, Ramos M, Kim MH, Malespin C, Plante I, Muller JP, Navarro-González R, Ewing R, Boynton W, Downs R, Fitzgibbon M, Harshman K, Morrison S, Dietrich W, Kortmann O, Palucis M, Sumner DY, Williams A, Lugmair G, Wilson MA, Rubin D, Jakosky B, Balic-Zunic T, Frydenvang J, Jensen JK, Kinch K, Koefoed A, Madsen MB, Stipp SL, Boyd N, Campbell JL, Gellert R, Perrett G, Pradler I, VanBommel S, Jacob S, Owen T, Rowland S, Savijärvi H, Boehm E, Böttcher S, Burmeister S, Guo J, Köhler J, García CM, Mueller-Mellin R, Wimmer-Schweingruber R, Bridges JC, McConnochie T, Benna M, Franz H, Bower H, Brunner A, Blau H, Boucher T, Carmosino M, Atreya S, Elliott H, Halleaux D, Rennó N, Wong M, Pepin R, Elliott B, Spray J, Thompson L, Gordon S, Newsom H, Ollila A, Williams J, Vasconcelos P, Bentz J, Nealson K, Popa R, Kah LC, Moersch J, Tate C, Day M, Kocurek G, Hallet B, Sletten R, Francis R, McCullough E, Cloutis E, ten Kate IL, Arvidson R, Fraeman A, Scholes D, Slavney S, Stein T, Ward J, Berger J, Moores JE

PMID: 24324272

Abstract

The Curiosity rover discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks, which are inferred to represent an ancient lake and preserve evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support a martian biosphere founded on chemolithoautotrophy. This aqueous environment was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity, and variable redox states of both iron and sulfur species. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus were measured directly as key biogenic elements; by inference, phosphorus is assumed to have been available. The environment probably had a minimum duration of hundreds to tens of thousands of years. These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments in the post-Noachian history of Mars.