By: Mike Barnett and John Landwehr

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• By Mike Barnett and John Landwehr
• November 4, 2008
• Planetary Sciences 214
• Professor Pavlov

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• 420 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, Canada.
• 5.7 kilometers long and an average of 0.8
  kilometers wide.
  
• Maximum recorded depth of Pavilion Lake is 65
  meters, and is 43 degrees Fahrenheit or 6 degrees
  Celsius on average.
  

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• Mars diameter is 6792 kilometers vs. 12,756
  kilometers for Earth.
  
• Temperatures range from -125 degrees Celsius or
  -193 degrees Fahrenheit to 25 degrees Celsius or
  77 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Surface is dominated by impact craters,
• Valles Marineris which is 4000 km long 11 km
  deep, and Olympus Mons 21 km tall ans 600 km
  across

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Evidence of Water on Mars

• 2 Phoenix Experiments indentified calcium
  carbonates and clays in the Mars soil
  
• Experiments reveal clays, like phyllosilicates,
  which are sheetlike structures that contain water
  interspersed between layers.
  
• Hypothesis-the axis which Mars rotates on has
  wobbled over millions of years, and the presence
  of water could have created a hospitable climate.
  
• Scientists have found perchlorate on Mars, which
  is an oxidizing agent that acts as an energy
  source and lowers the freezing point of water.
  

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• organic sedimentary mineral deposits covered by a
  thin layer of microbes that become entombed in
  the mounds as they grow outwards, and were
  likely produced by microbial communities starting
  11,000 years ago. Believed to be similar to some
  of the earliest life forms on Earth, this lake is
  a potential window into ancient ecosystems on
  Earth and possibly early Mars (NASA).

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• They are marcoscopic evidence for microscopic
  life.
  

EXAMPLES OF MICROBIALITES FOUND IN PAVILION LA
KE
MICROBIALITE FOSSILS FOUND IN LAKE CLIFTON,
AUSTRALIA
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• The objective is to search for, map, and
  characterize microbialites (coral like
  structures) extent and diversity in Pavilion
  Lake.
• Overview Recent data collected from Mars
  provided evidence of aqueous environments on the
  surface.
  

A sample of the microbialites growing in Pavilion
Lake.
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• If scientists can recognize what early life on
  Earth looks like, their hunt for life elsewhere
  should be better informed
  
• Nobody knows how microbialites are formed-4 major
  Hypothesis
  
• ?Cyanobacteria famous for building structures
  that exist only in extreme environments?
  

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• Sahara Desert
• French Polynesia
• Lake Van, Turkey
• Atacama Desert
• Lake Clifton, Australia

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• IF
• Research confirms that a unique type of
  microorganism did make the microbiliates
  
• THEN
• When scientists search for future landing spots
  on Mars, they can search for areas with similar
  structures
  
• WHICH MEANS
• That there will be a great chance for finding
  evidence of life on Mars!

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• http//www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?opmodloa
  dnameNewsfilearticlesid2866modethreadorde
  r0thold0 
  
• http//www.pavilionlake.com/information/deepworker
  .htm 
  
• http//www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6804/fu
  ll/407626a0.html
  
• http//www.astrobio.net/news/article113.html
• http//www.pavilionlake.com/information/site_descr
  .htm
  
• http//www.lpi.usra.edu/expmars/basicfacts.html

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• Unlike any other lake, scientists have found
  microbialites in Pavilion Lake which will help
  guide the search for life on Mars by searching
  for similar structures on Mars surface.
• Therefore future human exploration of Mars will
  require astronauts who are well versed in
  scientific methods and exploration strategies.
  
• Picture description of hand with rock-The white
  material on the left is the carbonate core, the
  green and purple slime on the left is the
  bacterial growth that coats the structures.
•  
• Hypothesis
• -Organisms play a role in creating
  microbialites.
  
• -Some cyanobacteria excrete calcium carbonate
  which forms the microbialites.
  
• -Bacteria builds up electric charge and attracts
  calcium carbonates in the water that bind
  together.
  
• -Bacteria discreets slime that the calcium
  carbonate binds to.
  
• - definition of microilate----organic sedimentary
  mineral deposits covered by a thin layer of
  microbes that become entombed in the mounds as
  they grow outwards, and were likely produced by
  microbial communities starting 11,000 years ago.
  Believed to be similar to some of the earliest
  life forms on Earth, this lake is a potential
  window into ancient ecosystems on Earth and
  possibly early Mars (NASA).