2016/05/23 by Mark Fox‐Powell, John E. Hallsworth, C. R. Cousins +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Planetary Science and Exploration #Origins and Evolution of Life #Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology
paper · doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1432
openalex publication_date 2016/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
UNLABELLED: The thermodynamic availability of water (water activity) strictly limits microbial propagation on Earth, particularly in hypersaline environments. A considerable body of evidence indicates the existence of hypersaline surface waters throughout the history of Mars; therefore it is assumed that, as on Earth, water activity is a major limiting factor for martian habitability. However, the differing geological histories of Earth and Mars have driven variations in their respective aqueous geochemistry, with as-yet-unknown implications for habitability. Using a microbial community enrichment approach, we investigated microbial habitability for a suite of simulated martian brines. While the habitability of some martian brines was consistent with predictions made from water activity, others were uninhabitable even when the water activity was biologically permissive. We demonstrate experimentally that high ionic strength, driven to extremes on Mars by the ubiquitous occurrence of multivalent ions, renders these environments uninhabitable despite the presence of biologically available water. These findings show how the respective geological histories of Earth and Mars, which have produced differences in the planets' dominant water chemistries, have resulted in different physicochemical extremes which define the boundary space for microbial habitability. KEY WORDS: Habitability-Mars-Salts-Water activity-Life in extreme environments. Astrobiology 16, 427-442.