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Williams AJ, Eigenbrode J, Floyd M, Wilhelm MB, O'Reilly S, Johnson SS, Craft KL, Knudson CA, Andrejkovičová S, Lewis JM, Buch A, Glavin DP, Freissinet C, Williams RH, Szopa C, Millan M, Summons RE, McAdam A, Benison K, Navarro-González R, Malespin C, Mahaffy PR. Recovery of Fatty Acids from Mineralogic Mars Analogs by TMAH Thermochemolysis for the Sample Analysis at Mars Wet Chemistry Experiment on the Curiosity Rover. Astrobiology 2019; 19:522-546. [PMID: 30869535 PMCID: PMC6459279 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The Mars Curiosity rover carries a diverse instrument payload to characterize habitable environments in the sedimentary layers of Aeolis Mons. One of these instruments is Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), which contains a mass spectrometer that is capable of detecting organic compounds via pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS). To identify polar organic molecules, the SAM instrument carries the thermochemolysis reagent tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) in methanol (hereafter referred to as TMAH). TMAH can liberate fatty acids bound in macromolecules or chemically bound monomers associated with mineral phases and make these organics detectable via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) by methylation. Fatty acids, a type of carboxylic acid that contains a carboxyl functional group, are of particular interest given their presence in both biotic and abiotic materials. This work represents the first analyses of a suite of Mars-analog samples using the TMAH experiment under select SAM-like conditions. Samples analyzed include iron oxyhydroxides and iron oxyhydroxysulfates, a mixture of iron oxides/oxyhydroxides and clays, iron sulfide, siliceous sinter, carbonates, and shale. The TMAH experiments produced detectable signals under SAM-like pyrolysis conditions when organics were present either at high concentrations or in geologically modern systems. Although only a few analog samples exhibited a high abundance and variety of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), FAMEs were detected in the majority of analog samples tested. When utilized, the TMAH thermochemolysis experiment on SAM could be an opportunity to detect organic molecules bound in macromolecules on Mars. The detection of a FAME profile is of great astrobiological interest, as it could provide information regarding the source of martian organic material detected by SAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy J. Williams
- Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, USA
- Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences and Technology/University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Jennifer Eigenbrode
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Melissa Floyd
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Shane O'Reilly
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Kathleen L. Craft
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
| | - Christine A. Knudson
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences and Technology/University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Slavka Andrejkovičová
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences and Technology/University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - James M.T. Lewis
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Maryland, USA
| | - Arnaud Buch
- Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, CentraleSupelec, Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Daniel P. Glavin
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Caroline Freissinet
- CNRS–UVSQ Laboratoire Atmosphères Milieux Observations Spatiales LATMOS, Guyancourt, France
| | - Ross H. Williams
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences and Technology/University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Cyril Szopa
- CNRS–UVSQ Laboratoire Atmosphères Milieux Observations Spatiales LATMOS, Guyancourt, France
| | - Maëva Millan
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Roger E. Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Amy McAdam
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Kathleen Benison
- Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA
| | - Rafael Navarro-González
- Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
| | - Charles Malespin
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Paul R. Mahaffy
- Space Science Exploration Division (Code 690), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
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