Antarctic environments as models of planetary habitats: University Valley as a model for modern Mars and Lake Untersee as a model for Enceladus and ancient Mars

References

• Andersen, D.T., C.P. McKay, and V. Lagun. “Climate Conditions at Perennially Ice-covered Lake Untersee, East Antarctica.” Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 54, no. 7 (2015): 1393–412.10.1175/JAMC-D-14-0251.1
   Google Scholar
• Andersen, D.T., D.Y. Sumner, I. Hawes, J. Webster-Brown, and C.P. McKay. “Discovery of Large Conical Stromatolites in Lake Untersee, Antarctica.” Geobiology 9, no. 3 (2011): 280–93.10.1111/gbi.2011.9.issue-3
   Google Scholar
• Battistuzzi, F.U., A. Feijao, and S.B. Hedges. “A Genomic Timescale of Prokaryote Evolution: Insights into the Origin of Methanogenesis, Phototrophy, and the Colonization of Land.” BMC Evolutionary Biology 4, no. 1 (2004): 44.10.1186/1471-2148-4-44
   Google Scholar
• Battistuzzi, F.U., and S.B. Hedges. “A Major Clade of Prokaryotes with Ancient Adaptations to Life on Land.” Molecular Biology and Evolution 26, no. 2 (2009): 335–43.10.1093/molbev/msn247
   Google Scholar
• Bibring, J.-P., Y. Langevin, J.F. Mustard, F. Poulet, R. Arvidson, A. Gendrin, B. Gondet, et al. “Global Mineralogical and Aqueous Mars History Derived from OMEGA/Mars Express Data.” Science 312, no. 5772 (2006): 400–4.10.1126/science.1122659
   Google Scholar
• Borucki, W.J., E. Agol, F. Fressin, L. Kaltenegger, J. Rowe, H. Isaacson, D. Fischer, et al. “Kepler-62: A Five-Planet System with Planets of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth Radii in the Habitable Zone.” Science 340, no. 6132 (2013): 587–90.10.1126/science.1234702
   Google Scholar
• Borucki, W.J., E. Agol, F. Fressin, L. Kaltenegger, J. Rowe, H. Isaacson, D. Fischer, et al. “Kepler Planet-detection Mission: Introduction and First Results.” Science 327, no. 5968 (2010): 977–80.10.1126/science.1185402
   Google Scholar
• Boughner, L.A., and P. Singh. “Microbial Ecology: Where Are We Now?” Postdoc Journal: A Journal of Postdoctoral Research and Postdoctoral Affairs 4, no. 11 (2016): 3.
   Google Scholar
• Byrne, S., C.M. Dundas, M.R. Kennedy, M.T. Mellon, A.S. McEwen, S.C. Cull, I.J. Daubar, et al. “Distribution of Mid-latitude Ground Ice on Mars from New Impact Craters.” Science 325 (2009): 1674–6.10.1126/science.1175307
   Google Scholar
• Clow, G.D., C.P. McKay, G.M. Simmons, and R.A. Wharton. “Climatological Observations and Predicted Sublimation Rates at Lake Hoare, Antarctica.” Journal of Climate 1, no. 7 (1988): 715–28.10.1175/1520-0442(1988)001<0715:COAPSR>2.0.CO;2
   Google Scholar
• Costard, F., F. Forget, N. Mangold, J.P. Peulvast. “Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity.” Science 295, no. 5552 (2002): 110–3.10.1126/science.1066698
   Google Scholar
• Davies, P.C.W. “Does Life’s Rapid Appearance Imply a Martian Origin?” Astrobiology 3, no. 4 (2003): 673–9.10.1089/153110703322736006
   Google Scholar
• Davila, A.F., and D. Schulze-Makuch. “The Last Possible Outposts for Life on Mars.” Astrobiology 16, no. 2 (2016): 159–68.10.1089/ast.2015.1380
   Google Scholar
• Davis, W.L., and C.P. McKay. “Origins of Life: A Comparison of Theories and Application to Mars.” Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 26, no. 1 (1996): 61–73.10.1007/BF01808160
   Google Scholar
• Doran, P.T., C.P. McKay, A.G. Fountain, T. Nylen, D.M. McKnight, C. Jaros, and J.E. Barrett. “Hydrologic Response to Extreme Warm and Cold Summers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica.” Antarctic Science 20, no. 05 (2008): 499–509.
   Google Scholar
• Doran, P.T., C.P. McKay, G.D. Clow, G.L. Dana, A.G. Fountain, T. Nylen, and W.B. Lyons. “Valley Floor Climate Observations from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2000.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 107, no. D24 (2002): 1–12.
   Google Scholar
• Ehlmann, B.L., and C.S. Edwards. “Mineralogy of the Martian Surface.” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 42 (2014): 291–315.10.1146/annurev-earth-060313-055024
   Google Scholar
• Ehlmann, B.L., J.F. Mustard, Scott L. Murchie, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Alain Meunier, Abigail A. Fraeman, and Yves Langevin. “Subsurface Water and Clay Mineral Formation during the Early History of Mars.” Nature 479, no. 7371 (2011): 53–60.10.1038/nature10582
   Google Scholar
• Gilichinsky, D.A., G.S. Wilson, E.I. Friedmann, C.P. McKay, R.S. Sletten, E.M. Rivkina, T.A. Vishnivetskaya, et al. “Microbial Populations in Antarctic Permafrost: Biodiversity, State, Age, and Implication for Astrobiology.” Astrobiology 7, no. 2 (2007): 275–311.10.1089/ast.2006.0012
   Google Scholar
• Goordial, J., A. Davila, D. Lacelle, W. Pollard, M.M. Marinova, C.W. Greer, J. DiRuggiero, C.P. McKay, and L.G. Whyte. “Nearing the Cold-arid Limits of Microbial Life in Permafrost of an Upper Dry Valley, Antarctica.” The ISME Journal 10, no. 7 (2016): 1613–24.10.1038/ismej.2015.239
   Google Scholar
• Grotzinger, J.P., D.Y. Sumner, L.C. Kah, K. Stack, S. Gupta, L. Edgar, D. Rubin, et al. “A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars.” Science 343, no. 6169 (2014): 1242777.10.1126/science.1242777
   Google Scholar
• Heldmann, J.L., W. Pollard, C.P. McKay, M.M. Marinova, A. Davila, K.E. Williams, D. Lacelle, and D.T. Andersen. “The High Elevation Dry Valleys in Antarctica as Analog Sites for Subsurface Ice on Mars.” Planetary and Space Science 85 (2013): 53–8.10.1016/j.pss.2013.05.019
   Google Scholar
• Hermichen, W.-D., P. Kowski, and U. Wand. “Lake Untersee, a First Isotope Study of the Largest Freshwater Lake in the Interior of East Antarctica.” Nature 315, no. 6015 (1985): 131–3.10.1038/315131a0
   Google Scholar
• Hsu, H.-W., F. Postberg, Y. Sekine, T. Shibuya, S. Kempf, M. Horányi, A. Juhász, et al. “Ongoing Hydrothermal Activities within Enceladus.” Nature 519, no. 7542 (2015): 207–10.10.1038/nature14262
   Google Scholar
• Klein, H.P., J. Lederberg, and A. Rich. “Biological Experiments: The Viking Mars Lander.” Icarus 16, no. 1 (1972): 139–46.10.1016/0019-1035(72)90141-8
   Google Scholar
• Lacelle, D., A.F. Davila, D. Fisher, W.H. Pollard, R. DeWitt, J. Heldmann, M.M. Marinova, and C.P. McKay. “Excess Ground Ice of Condensation–Diffusion Origin in University Valley, Dry Valleys of Antarctica: Evidence from Isotope Geochemistry and Numerical Modeling.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 120 (2013): 280–97.10.1016/j.gca.2013.06.032
   Google Scholar
• Lacelle, D., C. Lapalme, A.F. Davila, W. Pollard, M. Marinova, J. Heldmann, and C.P. McKay. “Solar Radiation and Air and Ground Temperature Relations in the Cold and Hyper-arid Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.” Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 27, no. 2 (2016): 163–76.10.1002/ppp.v27.2
   Google Scholar
• Laskar, J., B. Levrard, and J.F. Mustard. “Orbital Forcing of the Martian Polar Layered Deposits.” Nature 419, no. 6905 (2002): 375–7.10.1038/nature01066
   Google Scholar
• Levy, J.S., J.W. Head, and D.R. Marchant. “Cold and Dry Processes in the Martian Arctic: Geomorphic Observations at the Phoenix Landing Site and Comparisons with Terrestrial Cold Desert Landforms.” Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (2009): L21203. doi:10.1029/2009GL040634
   Google Scholar
• Marchant, D.R., and J.W. Head. “Antarctic Dry Valleys: Microclimate Zonation, Variable Geomorphic Processes, and Implications for Assessing Climate Change on Mars.” Icarus 192, no. 1 (2007): 187–222.10.1016/j.icarus.2007.06.018
   Google Scholar
• Marinova, M.M., C.P. McKay, W.H. Pollard, J.L. Heldmann, A.F. Davila, D.T. Andersen, W.A. Jackson, et al. “Distribution of Depth to Ice-cemented Soils in the High-elevation Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.” Antarctic Science 25, no. 4 (2013): 575–82.10.1017/S095410201200123X
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P., A.D. Anbar, C. Porco, and P. Tsou. “Follow the Plume: The Habitability of Enceladus.” Astrobiology 14, no. 4 (2014): 352–5.10.1089/ast.2014.1158
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P., E.I. Friedman, R.A. Wharton, and W.L. Davis, et al. “History of Water on Mars: A Biological Perspective.” Advances in Space Research 12, no. 4 (1992): 231–8.10.1016/0273-1177(92)90177-Y
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P. “Snow Recurrence Sets the Depth of Dry Permafrost at High Elevations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.” Antarctic Science 21, no. 1 (2009): 89–94.10.1017/S0954102008001508
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P. “Testing the Doran Summer Climate Rules in Upper Wright Valley, Antarctica.” Antarctic Science 27, no. 4 (2015): 411–5.10.1017/S095410201500005X
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P., C.R. Stoker, B.J. Glass, A.I. Davé, A.F. Davila, J.L. Heldmann, M.M. Marinova, et al. “The Icebreaker Life Mission to Mars: A Search for Biomolecular Evidence for Life.” Astrobiology 13, no. 4 (2013): 334–53.10.1089/ast.2012.0878
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P., C.C. Porco, T. Altheide, W.L. Davis, and T.A. Kral. “The Possible Origin and Persistence of Life on Enceladus and Detection of Biomarkers in the Plume.” Astrobiology 8, no. 5 (2008): 909–19.10.1089/ast.2008.0265
   Google Scholar
• McKay, C.P. “The Search for a Second Genesis of Life in Our Solar System.” in First Steps in the Origin of Life in the Universe, ed J. Chela-Flores, 269–77. Dordrecht: Springer, 2001. doi:10.1029/2009JE003342.
   Google Scholar
• Murchie, S.L., J.F. Mustard, B.L. Ehlmann, R.E. Milliken, J.L. Bishop, N.K. McKeown, E.Z. Noe Dobrea, et al. “A Synthesis of Martian Aqueous Mineralogy after 1 Mars Year of Observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 114, no. E2 (2009): E00D06.
   Google Scholar
• Mustard, J.F., S.L. Murchie, S.M. Pelkey, B.L. Ehlmann, R.E. Milliken, J.A. Grant, J.-P. Bibring, et al. “Hydrated Silicate Minerals on Mars Observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM Instrument.” Nature 454, no. 7202 (2008): 305–9.10.1038/nature07097
   Google Scholar
• Mykytczuk, N.C.S., S.J. Foote, C.R. Omelon, G. Southam, C.W. Greer, and L.G. Whyte. “Bacterial Growth at −15 °C; Molecular Insights from the Permafrost Bacterium Planococcus Halocryophilus Or1.” The ISME Journal 7, no. 6 (2013): 1211–26.10.1038/ismej.2013.8
   Google Scholar
• Noy-Meir, I. “Desert Ecosystems: Environment and Producers.” Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 4, no. 1 (1973): 25–51.10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000325
   Google Scholar
• Orgel, L.E. “Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World.” Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 39, no. 2 (2004): 99–123.
   Google Scholar
• Pointing, S.B., and J. Belnap. “Microbial Colonization and Controls in Dryland Systems.” Nature Reviews Microbiology 10, no. 8 (2012): 551–62.10.1038/nrmicro2831
   Google Scholar
• Porco, C.C., P. Helfenstein, P.C. Thomas, A.P. Ingersoll, J. Wisdom, R. West, G. Neukum, et al. “Cassini Observes the Active South Pole of Enceladus.” Science 311, no. 5766 (2006): 1393–401.10.1126/science.1123013
   Google Scholar
• Postberg, F., N. Khawaja, H.-W. Hsu, Y. Sekine, and T. Shibuya. “Refractory Organic Compounds in Enceladus’ Ice Grains and Hydrothermal Activity.” Abstract P11D-03 present at 2015 Fall meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA, December 14–18, 2015.
   Google Scholar
• Postberg, F., S. Kempf, J. Schmidt, N. Brilliantov, A. Beinsen, B. Abel, U. Buck, and R. Srama “Sodium Salts in E-ring Ice Grains from an Ocean below the Surface of Enceladus.” Nature 459, no. 7250 (2009): 1098–101.10.1038/nature08046
   Google Scholar
• Rivkina, E.M., E.I. Friedmann, C.P. McKay, and D.A. Gilichinsky “Metabolic Activity of Permafrost Bacteria below the Freezing Point.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 66, no. 8 (2000): 3230–3.10.1128/AEM.66.8.3230-3233.2000
   Google Scholar
• Sekine, Y., T. Shibuya, F. Postberg, H.-W. Hsu, K. Suzuki, Y. Masaki, T. Kuwatani, et al. “High-temperature Water–Rock Interactions and Hydrothermal Environments in the Chondrite-like Core of Enceladus.” Nature Communications 6 (2015): 8604.
   Google Scholar
• Smith, P.H., L.K. Tamppari, R.E. Arvidson, D. Bass, D. Blaney, William V. Boynton, A. Carswell, et al. “H2O at the Phoenix Landing Site.” Science 325, no. 5936 (2009): 58–61.10.1126/science.1172339
   Google Scholar
• Steel, E.L., A. Davila, and C.P. McKay. “Abiotic and Biotic Formation of Amino Acids in the Enceladus Ocean.” Astrobiology 17, no. 9 (2017): 862–875.
   Google Scholar
• Steel, H.C.B., C.P. McKay, and D.T. Andersen. “Modeling Circulation and Seasonal Fluctuations in Perennially Ice-covered and Ice-walled Lake Untersee, Antarctica.” Limnology and Oceanography 60, no. 4 (2015): 1139–55.10.1002/lno.10086
   Google Scholar
• Waite, J.H., C.R. Glein, R.S. Perryman, B.D. Teolis, B.A. Magee, G. Miller, J. Grimes, et al. “Cassini Finds Molecular Hydrogen in the Enceladus Plume: Evidence for Hydrothermal Processes.” Science 356, no. 6334 (2017): 155–9.10.1126/science.aai8703
   Google Scholar
• Waite, J.H., W.S. Lewis, B.A. Magee, J.I. Lunine, W.B. McKinnon, C.R. Glein, O. Mousis, et al. “Liquid Water on Enceladus from Observations of Ammonia and 40Ar in the Plume.” Nature 460, no. 7254 (2009): 487–90.10.1038/nature08153
   Google Scholar
• Wand, U., V.A. Samarkin, H.-M. Nitzsche, and H.-W. Hubberten. “Biogeochemistry of Methane in the Permanently Ice-covered Lake Untersee, Central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica.” Limnology and Oceanography 51, no. 2 (2006): 1180–94.10.4319/lo.2006.51.2.1180
   Google Scholar
• Wray, J.J., S.L. Murchie, S.W. Squyres, F.P. Seelos, and L.L. Tornabene. “Diverse Aqueous Environments on Ancient Mars Revealed in the Southern Highlands.” Geology 37, no. 11 (2009): 1043–6.10.1130/G30331A.1
   Google Scholar
• Zent, A. “A Historical Search for Habitable Ice at the Phoenix Landing Site.” Icarus 196, no. 2 (2008): 385–408.10.1016/j.icarus.2007.12.028
   Google Scholar