THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPING THREE CENTRAL OBJECTIVES. (1) THE PROPOSAL WILL FOCUS ON THE MINERALOGY GEOCHEMISTRY AND TEXTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PALEOSOLS BECAUSE SOIL DEVELOPMENT IS GREATLY CATALYZED BY MICROBIAL PROCESSING. A PRIME TARGET WILL BE THE BEDROCK PALEOSOL UPON WHICH THE TERRESTRIAL MMWCF RESTS BUT RESEARCH WILL ALSO BE AIMED AT IDENTIFYING INTRAFORMATIONAL WEATHERING PROFILES DEVELOPED ON SEDIMENTARY STRATA. RESEARCH WILL REQUIRE FIELD WORK MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS AND GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS. (2) THE DETAILED INNER WORKINGS OF FLUVIAL TRANSPORT PROCESSES AND RECOGNITION OF ASSOCIATED TERRESTRIAL FACIES WILL BE EXAMINED IN BED-BY-BED DETAIL BY COMBINING CONVENTIONAL FIELD TECHNIQUES AND POTENTIAL MODERN ANALOG SITES WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SUBCENTIMETER SCALE DIGITAL OUTCROP MODELS. IN A PILOT STUDY WE HAVE CONDUCTED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS APPROACH THOUSANDS OF LOW-ALTITUDE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES WERE TAKEN USING AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND THEN TRANSFORMED INTO A MODEL USING PIX4D PHOTOGRAMMETRY SOFTWARE. WE ARE PRESENTLY ANALYZING THE MODEL USING 3D VISUALIZATION SOFTWARE. (3) GIVEN THE ENVIRONMENTS OF DEPOSITION WE PLAN TO COMPLETE AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH IN THE FIELD FOR MACROSCOPIC EVIDENCE OF TERRESTRIAL LIFE FROM BOTH MICROBIOLOGICAL (E.G. MICROBIALLY INDUCED SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES) AND MACROBIOLOGICAL (TRACE FOSSILS) PERSPECTIVES.