IDENTIFICATION OF POLYAROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND MINERALS OF RELEVANCE TO MARS | Journal of App.....

The NASA planetary rovers Spirit and Opportunity have discovered geological features and hydrated minerals on the surface of Mars that imply a hypothetical biosphere based around liquid water may have once existed there. Future unmanned investigations, like as the next ESA ExoMars mission, would require analytical instruments procedures for the definitive detection of biomarkers in suitable geological matrices.

Raman spectroscopy is now used as part of the ExoMars mission's Pasteur instrumentation suite to discover extant or extinct life traces on the Martian surface and subsurface. The biogeological changes incurred as a result of extremophilic survival activity in stressed habitats have been explored. Terrestrial equivalents of Martian sites have been identified. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a type of degradation product that can arise in the environment as a result of biological activity.

The Raman spectrum characterisation of several examples of PAHs in geological matrix, both alone and in admixture with other species, is shown here. Raman microspectrometry was used to study experimental mixes of anthracene, pyrene, and perylene in matrix of gypsum, calcite, and quartz in 50-50 ratios in order to simulate their possible identification under geobiological circumstances on Mars. X-ray powder diffraction was used to examine the pure chemicals and compound combinations.

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