I believe the most likely time and environment for the origin of life on Mars would be never. The possibility of Martian life has been studied with evidence from ALH84001, PAHS, and the possibility of caves similar to those found in the United States.
First, David McKay, the head of a team of NASA scientists, recognized the ALH84001 traces in Martian biology. The bacteria-like structures in ALH84001, similar to life-functioning bacteria found on Earth, were mixed into carbonates when they were formed. This bonding process occurs at a temperature rate in which “life cannot function” because “organic molecules are unstable and break apart very quickly.” And, researchers concluded that the evidence (crystals) in ALH84001 could not have been produced by bacteria because the crystals were formed at high temperatures and had a “screw” dislocation meaning they were biologically produced.
PAHs are not strong evidence for Martian life because they are “nearly ubiquitous throughout the entire solar system.” They are found all around Earth and in the solar system so it is not a rare case that the PAHs found on Mars’ surface were from another source. For example, PAHs found in Antarctica from a Mars impact could have been formed because of a meteorite impact on Mars, thus displacing the PAHs.
Caves in the interior of Earth would not be possible without the sustainable conditions on the exterior, which allows humans and life to flourish on the surface. Conditions in the caves on Mars would be unbearable for any type of species to exist. Troglodytes on Mars would not have enough substances in the environment to survive as they do on Earth. By reading this article, it is not hard to attempt to believe that because animals on Earth’s caves have adapted to such intolerable environments that the same could happen on Mars. However this information is not proven or strong enough to base our way of scientific way of thinking on.
Patrick Flaherty
ClassNotesOnline
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