Transformation of Cyanobacterial Biomolecules by Iron Oxides During Flash Pyrolysis: Implications for Mars Life-Detection Missions.

Answering the question of whether life ever existed on Mars is a key goal of both NASA's and ESA's imminent Mars rover missions. The obfuscatory effects of oxidizing salts, such as perchlorates and sulfates, on organic matter during thermal decomposition analysis techniques are well established. Less well studied are the transformative effects of iron oxides and (oxy)hydroxides, which are present in great abundances in the martian regolith. We examined the products of flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (a technique analogous to the thermal techniques employed by past, current, and future landed Mars missions) which form when the cyanobacteria