Life on Mars Discovered by NASA’s Viking Landers: Lichens, Algae, Moss, Microbial Mats, Vesicular Trace Fossils in Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia
Abstract and Figures
Vesicular rocks and thick clumps of green-colored matter photographed in Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia by NASA's Viking landers were subject to morphological and computerized quantitative pattern analysis. These vesicular rocks are not homogenous and include those similar to vesicular basalts, marine trace fossils, and "tafoni" which on Earth are fashioned via the interactional influences of moisture, powerful winds, the leaching of salts and lichen-chemical weathering. Upon magnification the green-colored vesicular substances closely resemble "vegetative matter" similar to green algae, lichens, mosses and vesicular mats. The green colors (based on false colors derived from spectra) may be indicative of chlorophyll and the capacity to produce oxygen via photosynthesis. These observations, when coupled with the continual replenishment of atmospheric oxygen and evidence of surface frost, subsurface water-ice, and past cycles of flooding and ponding of water, are supported by the positive results from the Viking Labeled Release and Gas Exchange experiments and should be viewed as confirming that beginning in 1976 the USA and NASA's Viking Landers 1 and 2 detected, photographed and discovered life and evidence of past life on Mars.
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... Perhaps the color transitions maybe related to dehydration, maturity, metamorphosis, sun bleaching. This diversity is also characteristic of the eggs produced by a single or multiple organisms belonging to the same species ( Surrounding these "cocoon-eggs" photographed on Sol 1032--including those that appear to be broken or decomposing-are numerous concave patches gray to yellowish in color and reminiscent of dried "egg-yolk" cocoon remnants or fungus (Figures 4,(20)(21)24,(27)(28)(29). It is unknown if these concave patches represent the final stage of "egg-cocoon" metamorphosis, collapse and disintegration; if they are the consequence of predation; or if they are fungal in origin and the remnants of fungal puffballs that have died and deteriorated after sporing.The possibility that fungi and the "cocoon-eggs" share the same substrate--as photographed on Sol 1032--is supported by what appears to be stalks protruding upward from holes in the soil topped by ovoids or ovoid-sediment (Figures 8-9, [22][23][24][25][26]. ...
... The hypothesis that multiple organisms have colonized Mars in the recent or ancient past is supported by discoveries of forms that strongly resemble algae, lichens, tube worms, crustaceans and other multi-tentacled specimens on Mars [1,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]; fossilized structures that resemble a vast array of marine invertebrates [18][19]; trace fossils of rock-boring organisms [19][20]; an ovoid specimen that emerged from a hole as revealed by sequential photos and two similar specimens that appear to be consuming prey [6], as well as fungi that grow out of the ground, increase in size and number, and move and change shape and location and some of which have a single anterior placed hole and appear to be sporing [10]. ...
... These holes appear to have been fashioned by rock-boring marine organisms. Large segmented and smooth-skinned tubular forms have also been photographed in Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia, during the Mars-Viking mission ( Figure 42); however, if these are actual worms or fungal-lichen rhizoids could not be determined [20]. Likewise, some of the specimens presented here also resemble fungal puffballs, lichens, rhizoids and some of the those with holes at one end are similar to fungal fruiting bodies [36]. ...
White and dark gray oblong-ovoid cocoon-egg-like forms (“cocoon-eggs”), less than a mm in diameter, many with a single hole in one end, and some with unidentifiable specimens protruding from (exiting or entering) these holes, were photographed on mudstone in Gale Crater, Mars, on Sol 1302. If biological some of these cocoon-eggs may be frozen, fossilized or have already “hatched” or undergone metamorphosis. Specimens resembling segmented and tubular worms and rhizoids and those with multiple appendages (Arthropoda) were also photographed on these and other substrates on Mars, including on Sols 130, 132, 302, 551, 553, 808, 809, 868, 906, 1280, 1921, in Gale Crater. Many Sol 1302 “cocoon-eggs” are embedded in substrate that appears to consist entirely of a coral-stromatolite-like mass of worm- and larvae-like forms; and similar worm and segmented larvae forms appear in the interior of three semi- transparent ovoid structures. Embedded in the soil surrounding these “cocoon-eggs” are numerous concave patches reminiscent of dried “egg-yolk,” cocoon remnants or fungus, and that may represent the final stage of “cocoon” collapse and disintegration; or they are fungal in origin. Some of the segmented and tubular worm-like forms may include rhizoids and tubular fungi. Ovoids with open apertures may be evidence of fungal sporing. The possibility that fungus and diverse species and their “cocoons” share the same substrate is supported by what appears to be cyanobacteria, worms, insecta (arthropoda), and stalks topped by ovoids or ovoid-shaped microbialite-like sediment. Fungi, lichens, cyanobacteria, stromatolites and arthropoda have been previously reported in other areas of Gale Crater, whereas fungal “puffballs” and specimens attached to rocks with stalks and topped with mushroom-like caps have been observed in Meridiani Planum. The possibility these specimens are abiogenic cannot be ruled out. The evidence, in our view, arguably supports the hypotheses that various organisms colonized Mars in the ancient or recent past.
... Thus, when life-like specimens are photographed, NASA refuses to investigate and instead promotes the myth that "Mars is a lifeless desert." And yet, NASA was first proved wrong in 1976 (Schild & Joseph 2022). ...
... In 1976 NASA and the experts were again shown to be wrong as biological activity was detected by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment (Levin & Straat 1976, 1977Bianciardi et al. 2014) and the Gas Exchange Experiment (Oyama & Berdahl, 1977) at two locations over 4000 miles apart (Schild & Joseph 2022)--discoveries that NASA immediately disavowed as false positives (reviewed by Levin 2010). At the Viking landing sites, Levin et al (1978), Joseph and Armstrong (2022) and Schild and Joseph (2022) also observed what may be lichens or algae growing on nearby rocks that were marked by numerous trace fossils likely fashioned by sea-shore dwelling rock-boring mollusks, whereas DiGregorio (2000) reported what he believed to be biogenic structures. ...
... In 1976 NASA and the experts were again shown to be wrong as biological activity was detected by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment (Levin & Straat 1976, 1977Bianciardi et al. 2014) and the Gas Exchange Experiment (Oyama & Berdahl, 1977) at two locations over 4000 miles apart (Schild & Joseph 2022)--discoveries that NASA immediately disavowed as false positives (reviewed by Levin 2010). At the Viking landing sites, Levin et al (1978), Joseph and Armstrong (2022) and Schild and Joseph (2022) also observed what may be lichens or algae growing on nearby rocks that were marked by numerous trace fossils likely fashioned by sea-shore dwelling rock-boring mollusks, whereas DiGregorio (2000) reported what he believed to be biogenic structures. Biological residue has also been detected in a number of Martian meteorites (Mckay et al. 1996(Mckay et al. , 2009Thomas-Keprta et al. 2009). ...
Ten ovoid life-like specimens, less than a cm in size, that appear to possess forward facing eyes and pleopod-pareiopod-like appendages have been photographed by the rover Curiosity attached to the sides of sediment in Gale Crater. Dozens of ovoid specimens with multiple appendages were also photographed within and on the outside of honeycombed sediment. If these appendages are pleopods or pareiopods they would enable movement and feeding behavior. One specimen with forward-facing eye-like orifices was photographed occluding a hole in a sedimentary side surface and the following day the specimen was photographed several centimeters outside the now empty hole upon a ledge. Two specimens with forward-facing eye-like orifice were photographed engaged in what appears to be feeding behavior. Over three dozen investigators have published evidence indicating that Mars was and is still inhabited by stromatolite-constructing organisms, and that acritarchs, green algae, fungi, lichens, corals, sponges, mollusks, tube worms, and other metazoan invertebrates evolved on the Red Planet. Hence, although it cannot be precisely determined if these ovoid specimens are in fact Martian “animalia” the evidence presented here supports the hypothesis that complex living organisms evolved on and still inhabit Mars.
... A large body of published evidence by over 30 investigators supports the hypothesis that a variety of organisms flourished and evolved in those waters [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][13][14][15][16][17][18]20,21,25,[34][35][36]. It is our hypothesis that the fossil-like forms reported here may include bottom dwelling (benthic) and free-swimming (nectonic) organisms that likely survived by filter feeding or upon the organic content drifting down and accumulating on the floor of Gale Crater lake, or via predation or the scavenging of dead organisms. ...
... The buildup and layering of mud and minerals would have also created protective entombing coats thereby forming casts and molds that preserved morphology even as these organisms decayed and dissolved. Many of the specimens in this report were covered by several mm of dirt, sand, and dust, which was swept away by the rover Curiosity's metal-brush instrument 23,34). If these Martian specimens are fossilized marine metazoans, it is probable that most became extinct. ...
An array of formations resembling the fossilized remains of Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna and other organisms have been observed embedded atop sediments in the dried lake beds of Gale Crater, Mars. Specimens similar in morphology have been found together, or upon adjacent and nearby rocks and mudstone.These include forms morphologically similar to polychaete and segmented annelids, tube worms, "Kimberella,” crustaceans, lobopods, chelicerates, Haplophrentis carinatus, and the “ice-cream-cone-shaped” “Namacalathus” and “Lophophorates.” All specimens may have dwelled in a large body of water and may have been fossilized/mineralized following the rapid receding of these waters. Statistical quantitive micro-and macro morphological comparisons with analog organisms from Earth support the fossil-hypothesis. It is highly unlikely that these specimens were fashioned via abiogenic forces including wind, mineralization, crystallization, dried mud, or water-erosion scenarios. Collectively, these putative fossils could represent the equivalent of a “Burgess Shale” and the remnants of Martian organisms that long ago flourished in the lakes and inland seas of Gale Crater, Mars.
... Great coral reefs have been tentatively identified in the dried oceans beds of Mars [2]. In addition, trace fossils of rock-boring marine organisms (mollusks, bivalves) have been photographed in Jezero Crater, Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia [23,33]. Specimens similar to crustaceans equipped with pleopods (for movement and scavenging) have also been photographed in the dried lake beds of Endeavor Crater adjacent to fossilized forms similar to tube worms and worm tubes and next to holes and a surface that has the chemistry and mineralogy of and may have served as hydrothermal vents [5,[28][29][30]. ...
As presented in this report numerous fossils like forms resembling a variety of marine arthropods including crustaceans, sea spiders, scorpions, arachnids, nematodes, annelids, tube worms, sea snakes, Kimberlla, Namacalathus, Lophotrochozoa, armored trilobites and millipedes have been found in Gale Crater (on Sols 302, 553, 753, 781, 809, 869, 880, 905, 1032), and (annelids, tube worms, crustaceans) in Meridiani Planum both of which have hosted rivers, lakes, and inland seas. Similar specimens are mixed within a variety of divergent fossil-like forms and are also found on distant sediment and mud stone. All specimens are distinct from underlying substrate and there are no obvious patterns or repetitions typically produced by erosion or weathering. Although without extraction and direct examination it is impossible to precisely determine the identity of all these specimens, the same problems bedevil identification of Burgess Shale fossils some of which are presented in this report for comparative analysis. The discoveries presented here and in other reports supports the theory that metazoans and other marine organisms evolved in the lakes, oceans and inland seas of Mars.
... Green specimens similar to algae have been observed upon rock-like sediment in Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia [1][2] and those with features similar to green algae and cyanobacteria have been photographed in Gusav Crater and Gale Crater [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. In addition, formations closely resembling microbialites and concentric stromatolites--presumably constructed by cyanobacteria and green algae-have been observed in several locations on Mars, Gale Crater in particular [3,7,9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. ...
Multiple specimens that closely resemble calcium encrusted cyanobacteria (blue green algae) were photographed by NASA's rover Curiosity in Gale Crater, Mars, several having a blue-green coloration. Comparisons of sequential photos, taken three to five days apart, indicate that putative cyanobacteria are growing, changing shape, multiplying, and secreting spreading pools of what may be calcium carbonate. Specimens that resemble algae/cyanobacteria were first observed during NASA's Viking Mission and have since been reported in other areas of Mars. Structures resembling microbialites and stromatolites-presumably fashioned by cyanobacteria-have been previously observed in Gale Crater. Cyanobacteria are also primary oxygen producers and the Martian atmosphere is continually replenished with oxygen. Some of the specimens reported here may have been infiltrated by fungi. It has been previously reported, based on sequential photos by the rovers Opportunity and Curiosity, that fungi grow, change shape, increase in size, and multiply. The observations and photos presented in this and other reports strongly support the theory that biologically active cyanobacteria have colonized Mars.
A substantial body of evidence supports the theory that life began on Mars billions of years ago as based on discoveries of microbialites, stromatolites, and fossilized cyanobacteria, green algae, acritarchs and biochemical studies of Martian meteorites. As based on evidence, there followed an evolutionary progression within the oceans, lakes and seas leading to metazoan invertebrates. Subsequently, much of metazoan marine life became extinct leaving fossilized remnants resembling sponges, corals, annelids, tube worms, trilobites, crustaceans, sea spiders, scorpions, arachnids, and the trace fossils of mollusks and bivalves. It's hypothesized that numerous species may be frozen in glaciers. According to evidence-based theory: Chaotic obliquity and related increases in temperature and atmospheric pressure have repeatedly led to glacial melting and flooding of oceans of melt-water that stabilized and, in which, life flourished and evolved. When axial tilting declines there follows a receding and then freezing of what had been rivers, lakes, and vast seas and which led to the extinction and fossilization of marine fauna. The global magnetic field may be linked to and wax and wane in parallel with obliquity and both may be related to a slashing collision with a comet or moon-sized astral body, possibly leaving Valles Marineris in its wake, thereby contributing to this mass extinction. Volcanic eruptions may have been contributory. Bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens and those organisms dwelling within caves, crevices, beneath the surface and within aquifers, and those upon the surface and who could adapt, have survived.
Forms resembling sponges or coral were photographed in Gale crater, Mars by the Curiosity rover 'Mars Hand Lens Imager' (MAHLI) on sol 3396 that may represent the result of either mineralization or be evidence of fossilisation. At least seven individual structures were observed showing various degrees of fragmentation, but the most complete specimen was approximately 1.3 cm across and consisted of apparently branched 'tubes' attached to the substratum at a single point. At higher magnification, a reticulate surface texture and possible pores were apparent; findings consistent with a biological origin. Although a mineral accretion or concretion cannot be ruled out, it is more probable that the structures represent the fossilised remains of a type of sponge or coral, the former being the more likely. In the early life of Gale crater, these putative sponges may have lived at the bottom of a shallow, saline lake, subsequently becoming preserved in deposits of sand or silt, and then were gradually exposed over long periods of time.
Statistical comparisons were made between various ‘tube-like’ structures photographed on Mars by Curiosity and Opportunity rovers in Gale and Endurance craters respectively and the worm ‘cases’ of terrestrial tube worms. Various statistical analyses, including principal components analysis (PCA) based on various metrics, suggested considerable similarities between the Martian tube-like structures and their terrestrial counterparts. Although, statistical comparisons cannot ‘prove’ that these tube-like structures on Mars represent tube worms, they provide a more objective basis for morphological comparison, thus supporting the conclusions of Joseph et al. (2021a). Given the significance and implications of such data, further observations are urgently needed to increase sample sizes available for statistical study.
Macrobioerosion of mineral substrates in fresh water is a little-known geological process. Two examples of rock-boring bivalve molluscs were recently described from freshwater environments. To the best of our knowledge, rock-boring freshwater insects were previously unknown. Here, we report on the discovery of insect larvae boring into submerged siltstone (aleurolite) rocks in tropical Asia. These larvae belong to a new mayfly species and perform their borings using enlarged mandibles. Their traces represent a horizontally oriented, tunnel-like macroboring with two apertures. To date, only three rock-boring animals are known to occur in fresh water globally: a mayfly, a piddock, and a shipworm. All the three species originated within primarily wood-boring clades, indicating a simplified evolutionary shift from wood to hardground substrate based on a set of morphological and anatomical preadaptations evolved in wood borers (e.g., massive larval mandibular tusks in mayflies and specific body, shell, and muscle structure in bivalves).
Fungal reproductive behavior, the growth of hyphae and mycelium, and the production of spores, on Earth and Mars, are reviewed. Spherical specimens that nearly 70 experts have identified as fungal "puffballs" ("basidiomycota") have been photographed in the equatorial regions of Mars, within Meridiani Planum in particular. Over two dozen "puffballs" have been photographed emerging from beneath the ground and increasing in size. Networks of what appear to be fungal hyphae and mycelium, structural morphological changes associated with sporing, substances resembling clumps and carpets of white spores adjacent to these spherical "puffballs" and what may be embryonic fungi within these clumps of spores, have been observed. Although the authors have not proven that fungi are sporing on the Red Planet, the evidence coupled with comparative morphology supports the hypothesis that fungi are growing, generating spores, and reproducing on Mars.
The observation of tubular structures within Endurance Crater, Mars, has been reported by Joseph et al (2021a,b) who hypothesized these may be mineralized and fossilized remnants of tube worms that in the ancient and recent past flourished within lakes of water heated by thermal vents. The discovery of what may be spherical hematite in this same vicinity supports the hydrothermal vent scenario, whereas the claims by Joseph (2021; Joseph et al. 2021c) that these spherules are fungal puffballs does not. This evidence from Endurance Crater and associated mineralogy and chemistry is reviewed. We conclude that the ancient lakes of Endurance Crater may have been heated by thermal vents and inhabited by tubular organisms that became mineralized, as hypothesized by Joseph et al; and that these same hydrothermal vents formed hematite spherules as hypothesized by the rover Opportunity team.
Statistical comparisons were made between the populations of Martian spheroids photographed by Opportunity and terrestrial Moqui balls and between the stalked Martian spheroids and reproductive podetia of the lichen Dibaeis baeomyces. Principal components analysis (PCA)based on various metrics suggested significant differences in statistical properties of the Martian spheroids compared with the Moqui balls but considerable similarities between the stalked spheroids and the lichen podetia. These preliminary results suggest that Moqui balls are not a good terrestrial analogue of the Martian spheroids and support the hypothesis that the stalked spheroids may represent the reproductive podetia of a lichen; albeit considerably strengthened via mineral deposition to survive the Martian environment.
Pattern analysis describes a series of statistical methods to determine whether a variable shows significant changes in space or time and with applications in many scientific fields. Large numbers of photographs of the Martian landscape, including surface details of rock, boulders, and soil have been obtained by the ‘Spirit’, ‘Opportunity’, and ‘Curiosity’ rovers. Some of these photographs have been reported to reveal signs of either early fossil life or even of living organisms on the surface including algae, fungi, and lichens. The information which can be obtained from such photographs is often limited, difficult to interpret, and highly controversial. Pattern analysis methods may help to determine whether an observed feature visible on the surface of Mars is evidence of biological origin or the result of a non biological process. This chapter discusses the problems of establishing a scale measure for a quantitative analysis and describes methods of determining spatial pattern, i.e., whether a feature is distributed at random, regularly, or is aggregated into clusters. The pattern analysis methods are illustrated with reference to the analysis of the spatial distribution of two controversial features revealed in Martian photographs, viz. the ‘blueberries’ imaged by the rover Opportunity in Eagle crater and the abundant lozenge-shaped ‘rice-grains’ imaged by Curiosity in Gale crater. The limitations of the various methods and future developments are also discussed.
Studies of hydrogen deposition in the shallow Martian subsurface have been conducted by two neutron and one gamma-ray detectors in the past and provided global hydrogen maps (Boynton et al., 2002; Feldman et al., 2002; Mitrofanov et al., 2002). It is known from these maps that hydrogen is most abundant in the polar permafrost areas compared to the equatorial band where frozen water is not stable on the surface. However, the spatial resolution of hundreds of kilometres typical for these maps does not allow for detection of local hydrogen-rich features that can be associated with geological structures. FREND neutron telescope (Mitrofanov et al., 2018) onboard ExoMars TGO (Vago et al., 2015) is capable of a much better spatial resolution for mapping neutron emission of Mars. In this Report we present the analysis of the most intriguing local area of highly suppressed neutron emission in the vicinity of the Martian equator, which coincides with Candor Chaos in the central area of Valles Marineris, thought to be promising for testing water ice (Gourronc et al., 2014). Provided such suppression would be interpreted as the evidence for very high content of hydrogen in the soil, the mean water equivalent hydrogen value in the local suppression area should be as large as 40.3 wt%. This finding is thought to be uncommon for equatorial regions, but is probably associated with particular geomorphological conditions inside Valles Marineris.
Evidence from Mars of what may be algae, thrombolites, microbialites, microbial mats, stromatolites, and ooids is summarized. Also briefly discussed is evidence of chlorophyll, seasonal fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen, and what may be photosynthesis-oxygen gas vents adjacent to specimens resembling algae and lichens. The possible presence of calcium carbonate and calcium oxalate is also summarized the latter of which might be produced by lichens: an algae-fungi symbiotic organism that Joseph et al. (2021) believe are attached to rocks on Mars.