Organic geochemistry of in situ thermal-based analyses on Mars: the importance and influence of minerals

MA Sephton, JSW Tan, JS Watson… - Journal of the …, 2023 - lyellcollection.org
A high-priority goal for past, present and future missions to Mars is the search for evidence of
past or present life. Some of the most information-rich signals are those represented by …

Organic biosignature degradation in hydrothermal and serpentinizing environments: Implications for life detection on icy moons and Mars

JSW Tan, TL Salter, JS Watson, JH Waite… - Astrobiology, 2023 - liebertpub.com
Evidence of liquid water is a primary indicator of habitability on the icy moons in our outer
solar system as well as on terrestrial planets such as Mars. If liquid water-containing …

Experimental investigations of the preservation/degradation of microbial signatures in the presence of clay minerals under Martian subsurface conditions

I Criouet, JC Viennet, E Balan, F Baron, A Buch… - Icarus, 2023 - Elsevier
The astrobiological exploration of Mars is ongoing. Ancient Martian terrains covered by clay
minerals are seen as the most promising targets to search for biosignatures as clay minerals …

Mineral matrix effects on pyrolysis products of kerogens infer difficulties in determining biological provenance of macromolecular organic matter at Mars

SH Royle, TL Salter, JS Watson, MA Sephton - Astrobiology, 2022 - liebertpub.com
Ancient martian organic matter is likely to take the form of kerogen-like recalcitrant
macromolecular organic matter (MOM), existing in close association with reactive mineral …

Thresholds of Temperature and Time for Mars Sample Return: Final Report of the Mars Sample Return Temperature-Time Tiger Team

MA Sephton, K Freeman, L Hays, F Thiessen… - 2024 - liebertpub.com
Executive Summary The Temperature-Time Tiger Team (T4) was chartered by NASA and
ESA to evaluate the potential for degradation or alteration of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) …

Quantifying preservation potential: lipid degradation in a Mars-analog circumneutral iron deposit

JSW Tan, MA Sephton - Astrobiology, 2021 - liebertpub.com
Comparisons between the preservation potential of Mars-analog environments have
historically been qualitative rather than quantitative. Recently, however, laboratory-based …

Transformation of cyanobacterial biomolecules by iron oxides during flash pyrolysis: implications for Mars life-detection missions

SH Royle, JS Watson, MA Sephton - Astrobiology, 2021 - liebertpub.com
Answering the question of whether life ever existed on Mars is a key goal of both NASA's
and ESA's imminent Mars rover missions. The obfuscatory effects of oxidizing salts, such as …