Depleted carbon isotope compositions observed at Gale crater, Mars

Author:

House Christopher H.12ORCID,Wong Gregory M.1ORCID,Webster Christopher R.3,Flesch Gregory J.3,Franz Heather B.4ORCID,Stern Jennifer C.4,Pavlov Alex4ORCID,Atreya Sushil K.5,Eigenbrode Jennifer L.4ORCID,Gilbert Alexis6,Hofmann Amy E.3ORCID,Millan Maëva47,Steele Andrew8,Glavin Daniel P.4ORCID,Malespin Charles A.4,Mahaffy Paul R.4ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

2. Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

3. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109

4. Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

5. Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

6. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan

7. Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057

8. Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015

Abstract

Significance Carbon isotopic analysis is among the most pervasive geochemical approaches because the fractionation of carbon isotopes produces a natural tracer of biological and chemical processes. Rover-based carbon isotopic analyses of sedimentary rocks on Mars have the potential to reveal modes of Martian carbon cycling. We report carbon isotopic values of the methane released during pyrolysis of samples obtained at Gale crater. The values show remarkable variation indicating different origins for the carbon evolved from different samples. Samples from multiple locations within Gale crater evolved methane with highly fractionated carbon isotopes. We suggest three routes by which highly fractionated carbon could be deposited on Mars, with each suggesting that Martian carbon cycling is quite distinct from that of the present Earth.

Publisher

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference84 articles.

Cited by 45 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3