Abstract Microorganisms deep in the Martian soil could derive energy indirectly from the sun via chemical reactions involving atmospheric photolysis products of the solar ultraviolet flux. The Viking discovery of a chemically uniform regolith which, though poor in organics, is rich in sulfur-containing compounds suggests reaction sequences in which sulfur is recycled through reduced and oxidized states by biologically catalyzed reactions with photochemically-produced atmospheric constitutents. One candidate reaction, reduction of soil sulfate minerals by molecular hydrogen, is already exploited on earth by bacteria of the ubiquitous and tenaciousDesulfovibrio genus.


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    Title :

    Solar-driven chemical energy source for a Martian biota


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    1979




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English



    Classification :

    BKL:    44.71 Verkehrsmedizin
    Local classification TIB:    535/3908/4290




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