mineral that breaks down organic compounds when it is flash-heated has key implications for the Mars Curiosity Mission, scientists reported.
Jarosite is an iron sulphate and it is one of several minerals that Nasa's Curiosity Mission is searching for as its presence could indicate ancient habitable environments which may have once hosted life on the red planet.
On Earth, iron sulphate minerals like jarosite form in the harsh acidic waters flowing out of sulphur rich rocks. Despite the adverse conditions, these waters are a habitat for bacteria that use these dissolved sulphate ions.
Their presence on the red planet provides evidence that acidic liquid water was present at the same time the minerals formed. This could have provided an environment favourable for harbouring ancient microbial Martian life.To reach this conclusion, researchers from Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum replicated a technique that one of Curiosity Rover's on-board instruments is using to analyse soil samples. They tested a combination of jarosite and organic compounds.
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