- Steele, A;
- Benning, LG;
- Wirth, R;
- Siljeström, S;
- Fries, MD;
- Hauri, E;
- Conrad, PG;
- Rogers, K;
- Eigenbrode, J;
- Schreiber, A;
- Needham, A;
- Wang, JH;
- McCubbin, FM;
- Kilcoyne, D;
- Blanco, Juan Diego Rodriguez
The sources and nature of organic carbon on Mars have been a subject of intense research. Steele et al. (2012) showed that 10 martian meteorites contain macromolecular carbon phases contained within pyroxene- and olivine-hosted melt inclusions. Here, we show that martian meteorites Tissint, Nakhla, and NWA 1950 have an inventory of organic carbon species associated with fluid-mineral reactions that are remarkably consistent with those detected by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. We advance the hypothesis that interactions among spinel-group minerals, sulfides, and a brine enable the electrochemical reduction of aqueous CO2 to organic molecules. Although documented here in martian samples, a similar process likely occurs wherever igneous rocks containing spinel-group minerals and/or sulfides encounter brines.