Scientists are relentlessly searching for life on other planets, driven by an insatiable curiosity to know whether we are alone in the universe. This quest has led to a remarkable surge in exoplanet discoveries, with thousands of worlds beyond our solar system now confirmed to exist. The search for extraterrestrial life is a multifaceted endeavor that encompasses a wide range of strategies and techniques. Scientists are exploring our own solar system, scrutinizing moons and planets like Mars, Europa, and Enceladus for signs of past or present life.
And recently, in a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have uncovered evidence of potential salt glaciers on Mercury, the scorching planet closest to our sun. This remarkable finding suggests that even in the most extreme environments of our solar system, conditions similar to those found on Earth may once have existed or currently persist. This revelation opens up a new frontier in our understanding of planetary evolution and the potential for life beyond Earth.
Scientists at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) propose that these salt glaciers on Mercury could provide the necessary conditions for life to thrive, akin to certain extreme environments on Earth where microbial life persists.
“Our finding complements other recent research showing that Pluto has nitrogen glaciers, implying that the glaciation phenomenon extends from the hottest to the coldest confines within our Solar System. These locations are of pivotal importance because they identify volatile-rich exposures throughout the vastness of multiple planetary landscapes,” said Alexis Rodriguez, lead author of the paper “Mercury's Hidden Past: Revealing a Volatile-Dominated Layer through Glacier-like Features and Chaotic Terrains” that appears in the Planetary Science Journal.
PSI scientists Deborah Domingue, Bryan Travis, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Oleg Abramov, John Weirich, Nicholas Castle, and Frank Chuang are co-authors of the paper.
“These Mercurian glaciers, distinct from Earth's, originate from deeply buried Volatile Rich Layers (VRLs) exposed by asteroid impacts. Our models strongly affirm that salt flow likely produced these glaciers and that after their emplacement, they retained volatiles for over 1 billion years,” said co-author Travis.
