Modern terrestrial analogues for the carbonate globules in Martian meteorite ALH84001.

ABSTRACT

Modern carbonate globules, located in cracks of submerged volcanic rocks and in calcareous pinnacles in alkaline (sodic) Lake Van, Turkey, appear to be analogues for the approximately 3.9 billion-year-old carbonate globules in Martian meteorite ALH84001. These terrestrial globules have similar diameters and are chemically and mineralogically zoned. Furthermore, they display surface and etching structures similar to those described from ALH84001, which were interpreted as fossilized microbial forms. These terrestrial carbonates formed at low temperatures where Ca-rich groundwaters enter the lake. Chemical, mineralogical, microbiological, and biomolecular methods were used in an attempt to decipher the process responsible for the genesis of these structures. Although the exact mode of formation of Lake Van carbonates remains an enigma, their similarity to the Martian globules indicates that the ALH84001 carbonates may have formed in similar setting on ancient Mars.