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Project Reports

• Ice in Sublimation Environments

  Last year’s work resulted in a paper by Schorghofer (2005) about ground ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica. Another study by Schorghofer and Edgett (2006), on observations of seasonal ice at low latitudes on Mars, meanwhile made the journal’s hotlist of most downloaded articles. Since completion this work, also briefly summarized in last year’s project progress report, we have carried out the following investigations.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1

• TES/THEMIS Study of Valles Marineris, Mars

  Weitz et al. (2003) identified dunes, landslide materials and a blocky deposit in the floor (Fig. 1) of the Melas Chasma within Valles Marineris, as well as a large number of valleys along the southern wallrock of the chasma.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1

• Terrestrial Analog Study: Sierra Madera Impact Structure, Texas

  Sierra Madera impact crater is 12 km in diameter (Fig. 1) and is a well-exposed remnant of a complex impact crater, which contains impact-generated breccias (disrupted rock with sharp-angled fragments cemented in a fine matrix) and shatter cones (a cone-shaped fracture pattern found in rocks that have been exposed to a sudden release of energy, such as an impact) (Wilshire et al., 1972; Huson, 2006).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3

• Habitability and Water Delivery in Binary-Planetary Systems

  In the last year, a systematic study was completed of the formation and stability of planets, both giant and terrestrial, in multiple planets systems, as well as binary star systems. The motivation behind this study comes from the fact that among more than 180 extrasolar planets discovered to-date, 18 are in multiple planets systems, and approximately 20% are within binary star systems. Among these binary-planetary systems, γ Cephei has been the focus of my research.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Placozoa and the Emergence of Animal Life

  This is a new project on the poorly-studied animal phylum Placozoa, which contains only a single described species Trichoplax adhaerens. This is perhaps the simplest free-living animal known, in terms of total described cell types (4), small genome size (50 Mbp) and lack of organs, tissues, obvious sensory systems, or symmetry.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.2

• Seafloor Eruptions: Access to Deep Hydrothermal Biosphere

  This project is an on-going study of the microbial and geochemical changes associated with seafloor eruptions at mid-ocean ridges. The intrusion of a magma dike into the neovolcanic zone of a mid-ocean ridge is the “quantum” event in the accretion of the upper ocean crust. Such ridge axis diking/eruptive events are episodic perturbations that trigger a sequence of interrelated and rapidly evolving physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the formation of ocean crust.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.1

• Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory

  The W. M. Keck Cosmochemistry laboratory will soon begin analysis of extraterrestrial samples, including sample of interest to astrobiology. At its heart is a Cameca ims 1280 ion microprobe. This state-of-the-art instrument uses a focused ion beam to sputter and ionize atoms from sample surfaces. The sputtered ions are then extracted into a mass spectrometer and measured. The 1280 can measure isotopic compositions of most elements, with better precision and accuracy than previous ion probes.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 3.1 3.2

• Rapid Response to Remotely Detected Seafloor Eruptions

  May 2006 – Geophysicists aboard R/V Knorr during a recent cruise to the East Pacific Rise at 9° 51’ N suspected that a recent eruption may have occurred during attempted recovery of ocean bottom seismometers (OBS)

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• Important Carbon Oxides in the Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

  Radiation-induced chemistry of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is important in a variety of regions from the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars to the ices of comets, Mars, and planetary satellites. As carbon dioxide molecules are degraded by radiation, carbon monoxide and high energy oxygen atoms can be produced.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2

• The Deep Impact Mission and Astrobiology

  The Deep Impact mission is the first planetary mission to carry out direct experimentation on a cometary body by delivering a 364-kg impactor to comet 9P/Tempel 1 at 10.2 km/s on UT July 4, 2005.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 4.3

• Likelihood of a Supernova Impact on the Young Solar System

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Subseafloor Basement (Basalt) Biosphere Studies

  Using UHNAI funds in 2004-2005, we began to acquire laboratory equipment and initiate the first environmental electrochemistry research effort at UH, making use of solid-state voltammetric sensors.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• Analysis Tools for a Proteomic View of Adaptations to Extreme Environments

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.3

• Icelandic Subglacial Volcanic Habitats

  The Skaftárkatlar Caldera is formed by an active volcano under the ice, located on the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland. Through collaboration with Icelandic colleagues, Gaidos and Glazer participated on an expedition to drill through the ice cap and sample the underlying lake waters for geochemical and microbiological analyses.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• Geomicrobiology of Neutrophilic Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria at Loihi Seamount

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• A Cross-Platform Software Package for Efficient Data Reduction of Environmental Electrochemical Measurements

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 6.1

• Chondritic Meteorites as Records of Aqueous Activity on Asteroidal Parent Bodies

  The Fe-content in amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs) is a sensitive indicator of parent body hydrothermal alteration (Komatsu et al. 2001; Chizmadia et al. 2002; Krot et al. 2004).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Characterizing the Mineral Phases in Placozoans

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.4 4.2

• Development of Laser Ablation Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Missions

  This project seeks to miniaturize and shock-harden an electrospray ionization rotating field mass spectrometer (ESI-RFMS) for high precision measurements of aqueous geochemistry on Mars (Fig. 1).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 6.1 7.2

• The Evolution of Intelligence Under Environmental Change

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.2

• Development of Rotating Field Mass Spectroscopy for Planetary Missions

  This project seeks to miniaturize and shock-harden an electrospray ionization rotating field mass spectrometer (ESI-RFMS) for high precision measurements of aqueous geochemistry on Mars (Fig. 1). It has the strengths of being small, low power, low mass and requires no precision machining.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 7.2

• Analysis Software for in Situ Voltammetry

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.3

• A Proteomic View of Adaptations to Extreme Environments

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.3

• Detection of Microbial Differentiation Using High-Resolution Molecular Marker

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 6.2

• Ecology of a Hawaiian Lava Cave Microbial Mat

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.2

• Search for Evidence for the Presence of Aqueous Alteration at the Surface of Minor Bodies of the Outer Solar System

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Searching for Water and Organic Material in the Outer Solar System

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Iceland Subglacial Biology Exploration (ISBOX)

  Subglacial lakes are the focus of studies of life in extreme environments because they may resemble habitats on Mars and icy satellites in the outer solar system. ISBOX II succeeded in drilling through 300 meters of glacial ice to sample a subglacial lake beneath the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland, in June 2006.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.3 6.2 7.1

• Origin of Irregular Satellites

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Early Accretion of Asteroids and Protoplanets

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Formation of Planetesimals in a Dynamically Evolving Nebula

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Unveiling the Evolution and Interplay of Ice and Gas in Star-Forming Regions

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Water-Rock Chemistry and Habitats for Life

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.3

• Variable Young Stellar Objects Survey

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• TES and THEMIS Study of Proposed Paleolake Basins Within the Aeolis Quadrangle of Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1

• Formation of Astrobiologically Important Molecules in Water-Rich Environments

  We installed a new FTIR spectrometer to our experimental apparatus (Fig. 1). The new spectrometer is in perfect condition, allowing us to take spectra of ices at near-IR and middle-IR regions, which are comparable to astronomy observations. We also designed some new parts to improve the experimental apparatus. For example, a new OFHC copper coldhead shield (Fig. 2) was made and installed into the machine. That reduces the mass spectral background significantly. Recently, we are assembling a proton source to simulate the effects of solar wind on low temperature ices

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2

• D/H Studies – Origin of Earth’s Water

  We have begun a project to look at the evidence that the Earth’s water was partially brought in by cometary sources.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• A Search for H3+ Emission From Close-In Exoplanets

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2

• Mars Surface Activity

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1

• Lunar Ice

  Ice may exist in permanently shaded areas near the lunar poles, and would be an essential resource for human missions.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: None Selected