spacetoday.net: Martian salt deposits could be clue in search for life

Posted: Sat, Mar 22, 2008, 10:20 AM ET (1420 GMT)
Mars salt deposits seen by Mars Odyssey (NASA)

Salt deposits discovered on the surface of Mars in data from a NASA mission could help scientists identify prime locations to look for evidence of past life on the Red Planet. In a paper published in the journal Science this week, scientists reported detecting 200 locations in the planet's southern regions that had spectral characteristics, as measured by an instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, consistent with chloride minerals. Scientists believe these deposits formed over 3.5 billion years ago when groundwater came to the surface and later evaporated, leaving behind the salt deposits. Such locations would be prime areas for primitive life to form.