Ice and fire: Antarctic volcano may hold clues to life on Mars

On Deception Island in Antarctica, steam rises from the seashores, and glaciers dot the black slopes of what’s really an lively volcano—a uncommon conflict of ice and hearth that gives clues to scientists about what life might seem like on Mars.

The horseshoe-shaped isle within the South Shetland Islands is the one place on this planet the place ships can sail into the caldera of an active volcano.

Within the waters right here, some 420 kilometers (260 miles) from Chile’s Port Williams, fish, krill, anemones and sea sponges survive, whereas distinctive species of lichen and moss develop on the floor in an ecosystem of maximum contrasts.

The island, uninhabited by individuals, is residence to maybe the world’s largest colony of chinstrap penguins, seabirds, seals and sea lions.

The volcano has been lively for hundreds of years, with the latest eruptions—in 1967, 1969 and 1970—devastating British and Chilean bases and forcing the evacuation of an Argentine base.

But life at all times returns and thrives on an island the place water temperatures in steam vents, or fumaroles, have been measured at round 70 levels Celsius (158 levels Fahrenheit), whilst air temperatures can plummet to -28 levels.

It’s “much like Mars as a result of there what now we have is a planet with (part of) immense volcanic exercise … the place at the moment there are very chilly situations,” Spanish planetary geologist Miguel de Pablo informed AFP.

“It’s the absolute best approximation that we will make to grasp Mars with out stepping on” that planet, added de Pablo.

A wealthy historical past

The evaluation of rocks on Deception Island enhances the work of engineers, scientists and astronomers who research Mars from afar.

In 2023, researchers with the US space company NASA concluded that Mars as soon as had a local weather with cyclical seasons, conducive to the event of life, in accordance with proof discovered on the pink planet by the Curiosity rover.

Scientists consider an immense volcanic eruption modified the planet’s ambiance and led to the looks of oceans and rivers that later evaporated.

Though temperatures on Mars are far decrease now—estimated by NASA at about -153 levels Celsius—”Antarctic situations may help us perceive if the situations for the event of life might, or might have, existed on Mars,” mentioned de Pablo.

One other Mars rover, Perseverance, landed on the planet in February 2021 to search for indicators of previous microbial life.

The multitasking rover will gather 30 rock and soil samples in sealed tubes to be despatched again to Earth someday within the 2030s for lab evaluation.

The South Shetlands are claimed by Britain, Chile and Argentina however usually are not administered by anyone nation. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty states they shall be used “for peaceable functions” and ensures “freedom of scientific investigation.”

Deception Island, first visited by British sealers in 1820, has a wealthy historical past, with deserted scientific bases and an previous whaling station rusting within the icy air.

Wilson Andres Rios, a researcher and captain of a Colombian navy frigate conducting a scientific expedition in Antarctica, mentioned the looking of seals and whales from the island within the early twentieth century was “indiscriminate.”

In 1931, a Norwegian whaling station on the island closed when the value of whale oil slumped.

Then, in 1944, Britain established a base there as a part of a secret wartime mission to occupy Antarctic territories.

After a number of evictions and eruptions, the island is now devoted to scientific analysis.

And, below the scientists’ cautious eyes, hundreds of vacationers now arrive on cruises.

That phenomenon, mentioned Natalia Jaramillo, scientific coordinator of the Colombian expedition, is “worryingly rising.”

© 2024 AFP