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Project Reports

• Hydrology and Microbiology of Active Springs

  Sulfur springs have traditionally provided an excellent framework within which to study microbial communities in the contexts of their geochemical environments. We have investigated a sulfur spring network that has multiple discharge sites along a fault, focusing on two sites (MS4 and MS11) that were chosen based on flow rate, chemistry, and the presence of eye-visible white biofilms.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 5.2 5.3 7.2

• Early Oceans on Mars

   

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Interaction Between the Atmosphere and Water on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• History and Evolution of Surface Water on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2

• Evolution of the Interior and Its Consequences for Water on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1

• Adaptation to Salinity in Microbial Communities

  The potential relevance of evaporative lakes as analogs for the late stage hydrosphere of Mars (see results of Manga and collaborators in the UC Berkeley team) is well established (e.g., Benison and Laclair 2003, Astrobiology v.3).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 3.2 4.1 5.3 7.2

• Landforms Made by Groundwater Discharge on Mars and Earth

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

• Iron and Sulfur-Based Biospheres and Their Biosignatures

  This collaborative project involves many members of the UC Berkeley-led NAI team as well as members of other teams and institutions internationally.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 7.2

• Earthbound Microbial and Geological Robotic Based Observations for Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.3

• Evolution of the Martian Interior

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: None Selected

• Isotopic Fingerprints of Past Life and Surface Conditions on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: None Selected

• The History of Evolution of Surface Water on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: None Selected

• Climate, Habitability, and the Atmosphere on Early Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1