Early Earth as an Analogue Target for Astrobiology
Abstract
To a rough approximation, the records of planetary evolution on Earth and Mars are mirror images of each other. The exposed Martian surface is dominated by ancient crust, with more than 40% of the planet covered by crust more than ~3.5 billion years old. On the other hand, the exposed surface on Earth is dominated by relatively young rocks, with Earth's early history contained within a sparse and fragmentary geologic record. Only the rarest terrestrial rock sequences are ancient and coherent enough to be used a model for early life in martian rocks. The recent discovery of the 4.3 Ga Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt (NGB) in northeastern Quebec has essentially doubled the number of data points that can provide effective baselines for the Astrobiological evaluation of early Earth as an appropriate analogue for early Mars. This presentation will discuss promises and pitfalls of our current attempts to apply this approach in the NGB.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009AGUSM.B24A..03W
- Keywords:
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- 5200 PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY