PILOT STUDY: BIOMARKER PRESERVATION POTENTIAL OF A SULFUR-RICH EVAPORATIVE MARS ANALOG.SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: HYPERSALINE EVAPORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS ARE A FREQUENTLY STUDIED MARS ANALOG HERE ON EARTH AS THERE IS INCREASING SEDIMENTOLOGICAL AND MINERALOGICAL EVIDENCE THAT THERE WERE ONCE EPHEMERAL LAKES PRESENT ON THE SURFACE OF MARS. HOWEVER ALTHOUGH THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF RESEARCH HOW THESE ENVIRONMENTS PRESERVE THE BIOMARKERS OF EXTANT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES THERE HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE IF ANY RESEARCH INTO THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD OF BIOMARKERS IN ANCIENT EARTH ANALOGS. THIS GAP IN KNOWLEDGE IS BAD AS IF THESE ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS PRESERVE A RECORD OF LIFE IT IS MORE LIKELY TO BE A RECORD OF EXTINCT LIFE THAN EXTANT LIFE. THIS PILOT STUDY WILL PROVIDE THESE MISSING DATA BY EXAMINING THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD OF BIOMARKERS PRESERVED AT MULTIPLE MARS ANALOG SITES. THIS STUDY WILL NOT ONLY INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHETHER THESE ENVIRONMENTS CAN PRESERVE A LONG-TERM RECORD OF LIFE BUT WILL DETERMINE THE BEST PRACTICES FOR MAXIMIZING THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS WHEN ANALYZING THESE TYPES OF SAMPLES REMOTELY VIA A ROVER.METHODOLOGY: I HAVE IDENTIFIED MULTIPLE MARS-ANALOGOUS FIELD LOCALITIES SULFUR- AND IRON-RICH EVAPORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS WITH MINERALOGY SEDIMENTOLOGY AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION SIMILAR TO WHAT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED ON MARS. THESE TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN THOROUGHLY SEARCHED FOR BIOMARKERS THE GEOLOGICAL FORM OF BIOSYNTHESIZED MOLECULES. ALTHOUGH THE RECORD OF ANCIENT LIFE IN THESE ROCKS HAS YET TO BE INVESTIGATED I HAVE FOUND MICROORGANISMS PRESERVED WITHIN GYPSUM CRYSTALS AND CARBONACEOUS MICROSTRUCTURES HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED FROM CORRELATIVE UNITS. THE FACT THAT THESE ROCKS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE ONCE CONTAINED MICROBIAL LIFE MAKES THEM AN EXCELLENT TARGET FOR THIS STUDY; IF BIOMARKERS ARE NOT FOUND IT IS AN INDICATION THAT THIS TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT DOES NOT EASILY PRESERVE THEM. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL USE THE GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROSCOPY (GC/MS) INSTRUMENTATION IN MY LAB TO SEARCH AND IF FOUND TO CHARACTERIZE THE PRESERVED BIOSIGNATURES AT EACH LOCALITY. FURTHERMORE SAMPLES WILL BE COLLECTED IN GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT SO ANY BIOMARKERS FOUND CAN BE CORRELATED TO DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT.RELEVANCE: THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE FIFTH REGION OF INTEREST FOR THIS CALL BIOSIGNATURES AND LIFE ELSEWHERE WHICH STATES "[B]IOSIGNATURE STUDIES OF SAMPLES FROM EARTH SITES THOUGHT TO BE ANALOGUES OF OTHER PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS THAT MIGHT POTENTIALLY HARBOR LIFE WILL BE CONSIDERED AS PART OF NASA'S BROADER INTEREST IN THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE.