Low But Persistent Organic Carbon Content of Hyperarid River Deposits and Implications for Ancient Mars

Abstract

Mars has many well-exposed fluvial ridges and fluvio-deltaic basins; in two of these locations, the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers are currently searching for signs of habitability. The distribution of organic carbon that might persist in ancient fluvial deposits present on Mars is not well understood. In this study, we set out to assess the preservation potential of organic carbon in a hyperarid fluvial environment with observations and analyses of the Amargosa River in Death Valley, California (United States). The lower reaches of the Amargosa River in Badwater Basin are nearly devoid of plants and contain low gradient, meandering channels, making them a valuable terrestrial analog for early martian fluvial systems. We analyzed sediment taken from fluvial deposits exposed in cutbanks of two bends of a meandering channel. We found total organic carbon abundances that were on average 0.15% up to a meter below the surface. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyses revealed a suite of high redox potential mineral phases (including iron and manganese oxides) mixed with detrital and authigenic silicates, carbonate, and sulfate salts at or close to redox equilibrium with pore fluids in contact with the atmosphere. This finding highlighted that organic carbon can persist in fluvial deposits at low abundance despite oxidizing conditions and saturated sediments and suggested that ancient fluvial deposits on Mars may retain traces of organics in fine-grained deposits if they are present during deposition.