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Structural parallels between terrestrial microbialites and Martian sediments: are all cases of ‘Pareidolia’?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2016

Vincenzo Rizzo  and
Nicola Cantasano
Vincenzo Rizzo
Affiliation:
National Research Council – retired–, Via Repaci 22, 87036 Rende, Cosenza, Italy
Nicola Cantasano*
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, Rende Research Unit, Via Cavour, 4–6, 87036 Rende, Cosenza, Italy
*
e-mail: cantasano@isafom.cs.cnr.it
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Abstract

The study analyses possible parallels of the microbialite-known structures with a set of similar settings selected by a systematic investigation from the wide record and data set of images shot by NASA rovers. Terrestrial cases involve structures both due to bio-mineralization processes and those induced by bacterial metabolism, that occur in a dimensional field longer than 0.1 mm, at micro, meso and macro scales. The study highlights occurrence on Martian sediments of widespread structures like microspherules, often organized into some higher-order settings. Such structures also occur on terrestrial stromatolites in a great variety of ‘Microscopic Induced Sedimentary Structures’, such as voids, gas domes and layer deformations of microbial mats. We present a suite of analogies so compelling (i.e. different scales of morphological, structural and conceptual relevance), to make the case that similarities between Martian sediment structures and terrestrial microbialites are not all cases of ‘Pareidolia’.

Keywords

biogenic environmentMartian sedimentsNASA Roversstructural parallelsterrestrial microbialites
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 297 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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