Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology Archives

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Kevin Hand’s Antarctic Journal 8 February 2005

by Keith CowingFebruary 8, 2005January 31, 2024

Hello again from Antarctica, Ok, well, I’m back at McMurdo Station. All went very well in the field – our instruments worked great, we collected lots of data, and had […]

Called the “Genesis Rock,” this lunar sample of unbrecciated anorthosite collected during the Apollo 15 mission was thought to be a piece of the moon’s primordial crust. In a paper published online Feb. 17 in Nature Geoscience, a University of Michigan researcher and his colleagues report that traces of water were found in the rock. Photo courtesy of NASA/Johnson Space Center.

Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Sample Return, Status Report

Determinative Mineralogy: An essential component of Planetary Exploration – Decadal White Paper of the Extraterrestrial Mineralogy Panel

by Keith CowingNovember 9, 2001June 23, 2024

INTRODUCTION Our existing knowledge of extraterrestrial mineralogy has been gained largely from analyses of returned or collected samples — returned samples and collected meteorites from the Moon, meteorites from Mars, […]

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

More Evidence of an Ice Covered Ocean on Europa

by Keith CowingAugust 25, 2000June 13, 2024

NASA researchers have the strongest evidence yet that one of Jupiter’s most mysterious moons hides a fermenting ocean of water underneath its icy coat. This evidence comes from magnetic readings […]

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars

Arctic and Antarctic Analogs for Liquid Water on Mars

by Keith CowingAugust 20, 2000April 14, 2024

In June 2000 the world got another dose of Mars hysteria similar, but more limited in amplitude, to the attention that accompanied the ALH84001 Mars meteorite announcement in 1996. The […]

Microscopic image of putative microfossils in the ALH 84001 Meteorite -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia

British Researchers Try to Challenge Evidence of Mars Meteorite Fossils – But Don’t Make Their Case

by Keith CowingAugust 1, 2000June 13, 2024

In 1996 the world held its breath for a moment as David McKay and Everett Gibson from NASA’s Johnson Space Center revealed evidence which they felt pointed to the distinct […]

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about four billion years ago. The young planet Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 metres deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 kilometres. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Mars Once Had Salty Oceans – Just Like Earth

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2000April 14, 2024

On the same day that NASA was announcing the apparent presence of liquid water near the surface of Mars, another research team announced that Mars once had salty oceans like […]

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release

New Images Suggest Present-Day Sources of Liquid Water on Mars

by Keith CowingJune 22, 2000April 13, 2024

In what could turn out to be a landmark discovery in the history of Mars exploration, imaging scientists using data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have recently observed features […]

Astrobiology (general), Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware

Mars, Like Earth, is not a Simple Planet to Understand

by Keith CowingJune 22, 2000June 23, 2024

(Editor’s note: originally published on NASAWatch.com) Today, a group of scientists sat before the world on TV and said “I don’t know”; “I am confused”; and “I laid awake at […]

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Sample Return, Status Report

The Antarctic Dry Valley Lakes: Relevance To Mars

by Keith CowingMarch 1, 1989June 13, 2026

The similarity of the early environments of Mars and Earth, and the biological evolution which occurred on early Earth, motivates exobiologists to seriously consider the possibility of an early Martian […]