Methane in Mars rocks suggests possibility of life

New York: In a clue to possibility of life below the surface of Mars today, an international team of researchers has discovered traces of methane in Martian meteorites. For the study, the researchers examined samples from six meteorites of volcanic rock that originated on Mars.

All six samples also contained methane, which was measured by crushing the rocks and running the emerging gas through a mass spectrometer. The discovery hints at the possibility that methane could be used as a food source by rudimentary forms of life beneath the Martian surface. On Earth, microbes do this in a range of environments.

"One of the most exciting developments in the exploration of Mars has been the suggestion of methane in the Martian atmosphere," said University of Aberdeen professor John Parnell, who directed the research. Recent and forthcoming missions by NASA and the European Space Agency are looking at this.

However, it is so far unclear where the methane comes from, and even whether it is really there, Parnell said. “However, our research provides a strong indication that rocks on Mars contain a large reservoir of methane," Parnell pointed out.