Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading
Published on: March 6, 2014
Phosphorus as a potential guide in the search for extinct life on Mars
1Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Raumfahrt, Köln, Germany.
Abstract:
In contrast to the search for extant organisms, the quest for fossil remains of life on Mars need not be guided by the presence of water and organic compounds on the present surface. An appropriate tracer might be the element phosphorus which is a common constituent of living systems. Utilizing terrestrial analogues, it should preferentially exist in the form of sedimentary calcium phosphate (phosphorites), which would have readily resisted changing conditions on Mars. Moreover, higher ratios of P/Th in phosphorites in comparison to calcium phosphates from magmatic rocks give us the possibility to distinguish them from inorganically formed phosphorus deposits at or close to the Martian surface. Identification of anomalous phosphorus enrichments by remote sensing or in situ analysis could be promising approaches for selecting areas preferentially composed of rocks with remains of extinct life.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Conditions on Early Earth
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Protein kinases
Many proteins in the cell are regulated by phosphorylation, the addition of a phosphate group. A family of enzymes called kinases...
Phosphoinositides and PIPs
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...
Introduction to Electrolytes
Role of Sodium
One...
Roles of Electrolytes: Calcium and Phosphate
The calcium concentration in blood plasma is primarily regulated...
Diversity of Archaea II

