Nobody knows what’s creating oxygen on Mars

BGR ^ | 13 November 2019 | Mike Wehner

[steve86]

Elemental oxygen vs. molecular oxygen.

[JimRed]

Assuming (as a non-scientist) that the red predominating on Mars is iron oxide, could some force be liberating the oxygen from its bond with the iron atoms?

[samtheman]

anytime

[bgill]

Send Sheila up there to straighten the flag and maybe she’ll find out about the oxygen.

[CrazyIvan]

“Nothing creates Oxygen. It is an element.
That requires a nuclear furnace.”

Thanks for screwing up a perfectly good thread with facts.

[outofsalt]

"scientists studying the behavior of gasses on Mars have noticed that oxygen on the Red Planet also acts much differently than it does on Earth."

When you put a lit match close to a Martians butt...Uh, nevermind.

[red-dawg]

So Climate Change is happening on Mars too?

And no humans are present??

[T. Rustin Noone]

I’m wondering of a hardy, primitive form of plant life, such as lichens, might survive?

[butlerweave]

In Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) oxygen came from rocks when he heated them but to heat them there must have been oxygen , ,LOL movies

[Reily]

For that movie Mars was believed to have a similar atmosphere plus O2 content as Mt Everest or something of similar altitude. So starting a fire could happen, hard to do but could be done!

[The Westerner]

Actually well-written and quite fascinating. Thank God no one can claim mankind caused this one, unless they assert that the Rover is doing it!

[Tax-chick]

Ahem.

[Calvin Locke]

Alas, “Batman” didn’t land too well in that movie, iirc.

[PIF]

Common earthy plants breathe CO2 and exhale Oxygen, no nuclear furnace required

[PIF]

Not a fact - without molecular oxygen we would all die, and its that form of oxygen the post is referencing

[Repeal The 17th]

“...plants breathe CO2 and exhale Oxygen...”
-
In your example, there was already “O” in the “CO2”.

[Wonder Warthog]

"....but to heat them there must have been oxygen...."

Electrical resistance heating driven by solar cells. No oxygen needed.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ShadowAce. It's almost as if Thomas Gold were correct.

Highly oxidized iron is abundant on Mars, and very small-grained magnetite can then be expected to be one of the accumulated residues of microbial processes; so can iron sulfide and methane-derived carbonates. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are the large molecules that might remain in a rock that originally contained crude oil but then was exposed for millions of years to the high vacuum of space. All these substances have been found in the discovery meteorite, closely packaged to each other, and this by itself would make a strong case for the microbial interpretation. In addition, there are small objects seen under scanning electron microscopy that may well be fossils of microbes. While the last item by itself would not be conclusive evidence, the combination of this together with oil and the three residue products make a strong case for the microbial explanation. It is true that each step can occur without biological intervention, but the chance of finding by chance the evidence for all three solids in a small volume, together with hydrocarbons, seems to be very low. Many terrestrial oil and gas wells show just such an association (but an association with helium also, which the meteorite could not have transported through space).

Thomas Gold | Life on other Planets | May 1997

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