Likelihood of methane-producing microbes on Mars

摘要

We present a likelihood estimate that methane was a significant component of the gas detected by the Labeled Release (LR) experiment in the Viking Mission to Mars of 1976. In comparison with terrestrial methanogen production of methane we estimate the size of the putative microbe population necessary to produce the LR gas, had it been primarily methane. We extrapolate that figure to estimate the number of methanogens necessary to produce the methane content of the Martian atmosphere. Next, we estimate the amount of Martian soil and the amount of water needed for that global population of microbes. Finally, assuming a globally distributed population of such microbes, we estimate the likely sub-surface depth at which such methanogens could be detected.