The Torridon Group, planetary field analogues, and the search for life on Mars скачать в хорошем качестве

The Torridon Group, planetary field analogues, and the search for life on Mars

A recording of a lecture given by Dr. Keyron Hickman-Lewis to the Geological Society of Glasgow on 12 March 2026. Mars is thought to have been habitable early throughout its history (more than 3 billion years ago), when it sustained an atmosphere and stable bodies of liquid water at its surface. Although the surface of Mars is now entirely inhospitable, traces of a putative biosphere may be archived within its sedimentary rock record. The potential of finding fossilised traces of life on Mars has been the driving force behind its exploration for several decades, and continues with the NASA Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, which are currently exploring Gale and Jezero craters. A recent discovery by Perseverance of organic matter associated with reduced mineral phases in the Neretva Vallis river channel has stimulated new interest in the possibility of a Martian biosphere, and these materials have been sampled for eventual return to Earth. Until we achieve Mars Sample Return, developing hypotheses about Mars’ early habitable history requires us to harness understanding of similar localities here on Earth; we term such setting ‘planetary field analogues’. In this talk, I will discuss the importance of planetary field analogues for understanding ancient Martian environments, and consider how exceptionally well-preserved fossiliferous sedimentary rocks from the Torridon Group of NW Scotland provide insights into potential habitable environments on early Mars and the types of biosignatures for which we might search following the sophisticated laboratory analysis of Martian samples brought to Earth in the future.