CabrolNA_Fig1a_b (IMAGE)
Caption
FIGURE 1: Mars Biosphere Engine. a, The zonally averaged Mars elevation from MOLA8 shows how the formation of the planetary crustal dichotomy has driven hydrology and energy flux throughout geological times, creating both conditions for an origin of life, the formation of habitats, and dispersal pathways. While conditions do not allow sustained surface water in the present day, recent volcanic activity and subsurface water reservoirs may maintain habitats and dispersal pathways for an extant biosphere. The origin(s) of methane emissions remain enigmatic, their spatial distribution overlapping with areas of magma and water/ice accumulations at the highland/lowlands boundary. b, Young volcanoes in Coprates Chasma, Valles Marineris estimated to be 200-400 million years old by Brož et al. (2017). c, Regions of subglacial water (blue) detected at the base of the south polar layered deposits by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument. ).
Credit
Credit Image: (b) NASA-JPL/MRO-University of Arizona (c) Lauro et al., (2020)
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