Water and life in the solar system
The challenge
Research in Geographical and Earth Sciences focuses on two related questions: (i) Where and when was liquid water present in the Solar System? (ii) Were these aqueous environments suitable for the evolution and subsequent survival of life? This work currently focuses on primitive asteroids, Mars and martian analogue sites on Earth.
How it is solved
Evidence for the former presence of liquid water within asteroids and the crust of Mars comes from the identification of hydrous minerals within meteorites, and their crystallisation ages are then determined by isotopic analysis. Whilst water is a prerequisite for life, our assessment of its potential presence beyond Earth is informed by analysing samples from analogous terrestrial environments (e.g. low temperature and high altitude sites in the Chilean Andes) for microbial life and preserved organic molecules (biomarkers).
Why it is important
An understanding of the history of liquid water and the conditions under which microbial life is viable is a critical input for models of the early history of the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth. Results of this work are also highly relevant to interpretation of results from recent cometary, asteroidal and planetary orbiters and sampling missions in addition to the planning of future planetary exploration.