Geological and geomorphological observations indicate that the early Martian climate was able to support a widespread and long-lived hydrosphere. In contrast to present day Mars, this warmer and wetter Noachian and Early Hesperian climate may have been habitable, and evidence of microbial life in the form of localized geochemical enrichments may be preserved within clay bearing Martian sedimentary rocks.

 

We will use samples from the 1.0 – 1.1 Ga fluviolacustrine and estuarine sedimentary rocks of the Clachtoll and Diabaig formations (Stoer and Torridon Groups; NW Scotland), which have preserved biosignatures on billion-year timescales, to constrain a link between areas of preserved organic matter and localized elemental enrichments associated with past life.

 

This work will form the basis for further investigations surrounding the cross-calibration of two instruments on the ESA/NASA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover set to launch in 2028 with the goal to search for evidence of past life on Mars—Enfys, a mast-mounted near infrared reflectance spectrometer, and PanCam, a Panoramic Camera providing geological, mineralogical, and geomorphological context through stereo and multispectral imaging.

 

Short Bio– I am a PhD candidate in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews, where my research supports the ESA ExoMars mission by studying how signs of past life might be detected on Mars. Using Earth analogue sites, including some from the Stoer and Torridon groups in the Northwest Highlands, I am focused on identifying geochemical signals imparted by life preserved in clay rich sedimentary rocks and their associated near infrared spectral features. Prior to my PhD,  I spent two years working in hydrogeological consultancy, where outside of my job I continued research from my undergraduate thesis which used a combination of sedimentology and geochemistry to revisit the depositional environment of the Torridonian Diabaig Formation.