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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 11, No. 3

Publication Date: June 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/aivp.113.14672.

Al Dallal, S. (2023). On the Prospect of Fossil Fuel on Planet Mars. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(3). 117-139.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

On the Prospect of Fossil Fuel on Planet Mars

Shawki Al Dallal

College of Graduate studies and Research,

Ahlia University, P.O.Box 10878

ABSTRACT

Planet Mars has long been a source of attraction to astronomers and scientists. In

1976,the Viking probes inaugurated the beginning of a new era in human history

by searching for primitive lifeforms on Mars. Successive Martian missions have

discovered evidence, in the form of dried rivers and lake beds, of the prior

abundance of water on the Martian surface leading to conjecture that, millions of

years ago, some kind of primeval lifeforms, supported by chemical and biological

processes, are at the origin of formation of fossil fuel on planet Mars. One hypothesis

even maintains that conditions on Mars, in its early history, resembled, to a major

extent, the environment reigning on Earth in its embryonic stage. Petroleum has

been the outcome of this natural environment on Earth. It is argued that nascent

conditions on Mars developed afertile environment leading to the formation of

fossil fuel. The aim of this paper is to investigate the prospect of such hypothesis,

and to examine the likelihood that subterranean resources being extant in Mars in

view of the latest data gathered by Martian probes. Analysis shows that kerogen is

a viable signature of the potential presence of fossil fuel on Mars, and this result

comports with preliminary findings of the Martian Rovers.

Keywords: Fossil fuel, Planet Mars, Petroleum, Kerogen, Aqueous minerals, catagenesis.

INTRODUCTION

Fossil fuel is the primary source of energy on planet Earth. Its origin dates back to the early

history of the planet. A study of the environment reigning on Earth during that epoch may shed

light on the processes leading to the formation of fossil fuel. It turns out that these processes

involve complex chemistry supported by some sort of bacterial lifeforms in aqueous

surroundings. These findings can be generalized to include other solar system bodies exhibiting

similar environment during a certain phase of their evolution. The presence of water is a key

element in the search for lifeforms of any kind. Since the 1960s, space probes have visited all

planets and other bodies in the solar system. On the 18th of November 2019, scientists gathered

sufficient evidence to conclude that liquid water is present beneath the icy surface of the Jovian

moon Europa with an estimated layer of water around 100 km, and an outer crust of solid ice

of approximately 10-30 km in thickness [1] [2]. A salty ocean was discovered beneath the

surface of Ganymede that may contain more water than all the Earth's oceans combined [3] [4]

[5]. More than 100 geysers have been identified on Saturn's moon Enceladus [6] and, in 2018,

scientists reported the detection of complex macromolecular organisms in its jet plumes [7]

[8]. Titan is the only moon in the SolarSystem exhibiting a dense atmosphere in which evidence

of a subsurface ocean has been found [9]. However, harsh, inhospitable environments

characterize all planets, moons, and other celestial bodies extant in the Solar System beyond

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 11, Issue 3, June-2023

the asteroid belt, and the main scientific interest in their investigation is to address

fundamental questions about the characteristics of the building blocks of our solar system and

the search for primitive lifeforms that would contribute to a better understanding of the origin

of life on Earth. On the one hand, Mercury and Venus, given their proximity to the Sun, receive

a great amount of heat antithetical to supporting any kind of lifeform. By an ample margin

relative to other planets in the Solar System, Mars, on the other hand, rates as the most suitable

habitat, apart from Earth, able to potentially accommodate some kind of lifeforms. The

atmosphere of Mars consists primarily of carbon dioxide (95.32%), molecular nitrogen (2.6%),

and argon (1.9%) [10]. Therefore, the burning of fossil fuel on Mars will not adversely impact

the atmospheric environment as on Earth. Until recently, about 56 space missions have been

launched to investigate various aspects of the Martian environment, but only 28 were

successful with seven of them still being operational (2021). Figure (1) depicts the distribution

of successful and failed missions to Planet Mars. In 1971, the USSR's Mars 3 Lander made the

first successful soft landing on the planet's surface [11]. In 1975, Viking 1 and Viking 2

discovered a myriad of geological forms that typically develop from the presence of large

amounts of water and conducted, for the first time, biological experiments designed to search

for life in the Martian soil [12]. The American Mars Exploration Program is a long-term effort

to explore Mars making use of orbital spacecrafts, landers, and rovers to explore the climate,

natural resources and existence, or potential thereof, of lifeforms -- if any -- on Mars [13]. Since

the early 1980s, a series of fly-by probes, orbiters, and landers have been dispatched to Mars

that have incrementally advanced our knowledge about the planet. The most successful

missions were Mars Global Surveyor (1996), Mars Climate Orbiter (1998), Mars Odyssey

(2001), Mars Pathfinder (2003), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005), Spirit and Opportunity

Rovers (2003) and Curiosity Rover (2011), and lately Perseverance Mars Probe (2020), China's

Zhurong probe (2021), and the European ExoMars 2022 mission is planned to launch on 20

September 2022. These space vehicles are scheduled to collect a huge amount of data on the

climate, geology, and environment of Mars.

Figure (1): The distribution of various spacecrafts sent to Mars. Among the 56

missions, only 27 are successful.

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Al Dallal, S. (2023). On the Prospect of Fossil Fuel on Planet Mars. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(3). 117-139.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.113.14672.

Cold, dry and bathed in ultraviolet radiation, the contemporary Martian surface is hostile to any

kind of lifeforms on its surface. In contrast, however, early Mars was warm, wet, and replete

with networks of rivers, lakes, and seas [14] [15]. Few billions of years ago, the Martian

environment was much more hospitable to life as on Earth [16] [17]. Biological markers

extant in rocks, lakes and rivers beds, in addition to geologic evidence in the form of

fossilization, support the contention that micro- organisms proliferated in such environments

[18] [19] [20].

The possible existence of oil and natural gas on Mars has drawn the attention of many groups

of scientists [21] [22] [23]. A potential signature of subsurface biologicalactivities would be gas

generated by some kind of lifeforms, percolating up to the surface and venting in the Martian

atmosphere [21]. The likelihood of the presence of subsurface oil and natural gas on Mars may

cause seepage of hydrocarbon-based gases such as methane [24] [25] [26]. However, likelihood

falls short of certainty and, therefore, additional data collection, through alternative means of

collection, is prescribed. In this vein, future prospects of infrared gas detection and imaging

technologies hold, to that end, substantial promise but, perforce, their prospects, balanced

against their limitations, need to be comprehensively evaluated [8 21]. Detailed geological,

chemical and biological studies with the aim of discovering fossil fuel on Mars, focus largely on

processes occurring in diverse types of rocks and soil [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]. Given that fossil

fuel is a viable outcome of these processes, itis not surprising that fossilization in early history

of Mars has been extensively studiedby scientists [32] [33] [34]. In this backdrop, the current

paper elucidates the complexities -- in geological, chemical and biological terms -- involved in

transforming fossils into oil and gas.

The first part of this paper explores the early history of nascent Earth, and the role ofwater and

geological features in setting a fertile environment to produce fossil fuel willbe investigated.

This attempt identifies the most important biological and chemical signatures that could be

used as a gauge to pinpoint similar processes on Mars.

The second part of this work investigates the geological data revealed by Martian orbiter

spacecrafts and rovers. This includes the history, origin, and distribution networks of water in

the early epoch of the Martian evolution. In this approach the main chemical and biological

processes shaping the various features and structures discovered on Mars are identified. The

role of the aqueous environment in promoting these processes will be highlighted.

The last part of this work highlights the latest findings of the Curiosity rover in its quest of

biosignature of organic material and how they are compared with the expectedprocesses

leading to the formation of fossil fuel on Earth.

FOSSIL FUEL ON EARTH, COMPOSITION AND FORMATION

Petroleum is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon exhibiting various molecular weights and may

contain miscellaneous organic compounds. It includes crude oil in addition toliquid, gaseous,

and solid hydrocarbons. Its composition is generally modeled by the undersurface pressure and

temperature, where lighter hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, and butane are

in a gaseous state, whereas pentane and heavierhydrocarbons are in a liquid or solid state.