Review Article
Growth of Cyanobacteria In Gale Crater, Mars, Based on Sequential Images.
Author(s): R. Gabriel Joseph*, N. Chandra Wickramasinghe and Rudolph Schild
Multiple specimens that closely resemble calcium-encrusted cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) were photographed by NASA’s rover Curiosity in Gale Crater, Mars, several having a blue-green coloration. Comparisons of sequential photos, taken three to five days apart, indicate that putative cyanobacteria are growing, changing shape, multiplying, and secreting spreading pools of what may be calcium carbonate. Specimens that resemble algae/cyanobacteria were first observed during NASA’s Viking Mission and have since been reported in other areas of Mars. Structures resembling microbialites and stromatolites--presumably fashioned by cyanobacteria--have been previously observed in Gale Crater. Cyanobacteria are also primary oxygen producers and the Martian atmosphere is continually replenished with oxygen. Some of the specimens reported here may have been infiltrated by fungi. It ha.. Read More»
