According to a report by French scientists, ancient Mars might have had a suitable environment for possessing microscopic organisms in its underground world. The researchers found out that if microbial life existed, these simple forms of life would have impacted the atmosphere to trigger an ice age on Mars and extinguished themselves.
Microbes might cause their own demise, said the researchers, providing an arid view of the ways this universe has.
The discovery by Boris Sauterey and his team
Boris Sauterey, a Sorbonne University researcher, led the study and said that the results are somewhat gloomy yet very stimulating and have enough potential to make the researchers rethink the interaction between a planet and its biosphere.
Sauterey and his co-researchers analyzed the habitability of Mars four billion years ago with the terrain and climate models. Mars was then full of water, as it is assumed, and more hospitable than the present time.
The researchers found that the microbes that produce methane might exist below the red planet’s surface, and layers of dirt might have protected the hydrogen-gobbling microbial lives from the radiation. The parts of Mars that might not have ice would be teeming with these microbes, just like the Earth.
Difference between Mars and Earth
According to Sauterey, the atmosphere of the red planet would have jeopardized the warm and moist climate of early Mars, as the atmosphere was full of carbon dioxide, and hydrogen was drawn out from it to a large extent. The temperatures of the red planet might be almost -200C at that time.
Microbes have, on the contrary, helped Earth to maintain a moderate temperature condition, and researchers consider the nitrogen-rich atmosphere of Earth to be the reason behind it.
Researcher Kaveh Pahlevan said that future studies to be held on the climate of Mars should consider this research on microscopic organisms.
