Amino acids in the Martian meteorite Nakhla.

Evidence of Biological Activities in a Depth Profile through Martian Meteorite Nakhla

Replacement of glass in the Nakhla meteorite by berthierine: Implications for understanding the origins of aluminumrich phyllosilicates on Mars

A scanning and transmission electron microscope study of aluminosilicate glasses within melt inclusions from the Martian meteorite Nakhla shows that they have been replaced by berthierine, an aluminum-iron serpentine mineral. This alteration reaction was mediated by liquid water that gained access to the glasses along fractures within enclosing augite and olivine grains. Water/rock ratios were ...

A search for endogenous amino acids in martian meteorite ALH84001.

Trace amounts of glycine, serine, and alanine were detected in the carbonate component of the martian meteorite ALH84001 by high-performance liquid chromatography. The detected amino acids were not uniformly distributed in the carbonate component and ranged in concentration from 0.1 to 7 parts per million. Although the detected alanine consists primarily of the L enantiomer, low concentrations ...

Halogens in Nakhla and Nwa 998: Evidence of Martian Weathering?

The halogen concentrations of a number of Martian meteorites vary significantly, with larger variations observed in I/Cl compared to Br/Cl. One striking feature is the high I/Cl ratios associated with those meteorites found in Antarctica. Removal of low temperature, superficial contamination does not significantly reduce the I/Cl ratio [1], indicating that processing in Antarctica is responsibl...

Observations from a 4-year contamination study of a sample depth profile through Martian meteorite Nakhla.

Morphological, compositional, and biological evidence indicates the presence of numerous well-developed microbial hyphae structures distributed within four different sample splits of the Nakhla meteorite obtained from the British Museum (allocation BM1913,25). By examining depth profiles of the sample splits over time, morphological changes displayed by the structures were documented, as well a...