NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Finds Carbon On Red Planet; What Does It Mean?

Unusual carbon discovered on the Red Planet by NASA's Curiosity Rover might reveal information about the planet's past.

The carbon cycle is the natural process of recycling carbon atoms, and it is the foundation for all life on Earth. Carbon atoms migrate from the atmosphere to the ground and back to the atmosphere on our home planet, completing a cycle.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), most of our carbon resides in rocks and sediment, remaining in the global ocean, atmosphere, and creatures.

Diverse Terrain Types on Mount Sharp, Mars — MOUNT SHARP, MARS - APRIL 10, 2015: In this handout provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS A sweeping panorama combining 33 telephoto images into one Martian vista presents details of several types of terrain visible on Mount Sharp from a location along the route of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The component images were taken by the rover's Mast Camera on April 10, 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via Getty Images

NASA Curiosity Rover Finds Carbon on Mars

Scientists examined samples collected from six different exposed areas on Mars' Gale Crater, including one on a cliff, with the help of NASA's Curiosity Rover, Independent reported.

Carbon has two stable isotopes, 12 and 13, and scientists wanted to know how much of each was present in the samples. They can learn more about the carbon cycle on the planet, even far back in its past, and so learn more about Mars' narrative.

Prof. Christopher House of Penn State University, the study's lead author, said per Express that the carbon 13-depleted samples are similar to samples recovered from 2.7 billion-year-old sediment in Australia.

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Biological activity was responsible for those samples, which occurred when ancient microbial mats ate methane. Microbes, sometimes known as microscopic bugs, are too tiny to view without a microscope.

However, because Mars is a planet generated from different elements and processes than Earth, experts can't claim that. As a result, additional evidence is required to determine which of these explanations is right.

It would be great if the rover could find a huge plume of methane and measure the carbon isotopes in it. However, while methane plumes exist, most are tiny, and no rover has sampled one large enough to analyze the isotopes.

Why There's Carbon On Mars

The various carbon atom readings might indicate three different things about ancient Mars. Cosmic dust, UV degradation of carbon dioxide, or ultraviolet degradation of biologically generated methane are all possible carbon sources.

According to House (per CNN), the first scenario entails our whole solar system traveling through a galactic dust cloud every 100 million years. On rocky planets, the particle-heavy cloud might cause cooling.

The second possibility includes UV light converting carbon dioxide on Mars into organic molecules such as formaldehyde. That hypothesis also requires more investigation.

The third method of carbon production may have biological roots. It's also conceivable that the methane reacted with UV radiation, leaving a carbon speck on Mars' surface.