by Ann » Mon Dec 22, 2014 6:39 am
Nitpicker wrote:That's very interesting. But by my calculations, the highest localised reading from Curiosity (7 parts per billion) suggested a proportion of methane ~100 times smaller than in Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere (or ~250 times smaller than in our current atmosphere). And with the atmospheric pressure on Mars being (in nice round figures) ~100 times lower than on Earth, I think we're talking ~10,000 times fewer molecules of methane, per unit volume.
Would you say, Nit, that if we assume that all the methane in the atmosphere of Mars is produced by life forms, that would also mean that the ~10,000 times fewer molecules of methane per unit volume of Martian atmosphere compared with the atmosphere of Earth, would also mean that the methane-producing biomass of Mars would be 10,000 times smaller on Mars than on Earth?
It would of course be fantastically interesting if there really is life on Mars. The way I read you, Nit, there can only be relatively little of it. Can we be talking about relatively small favorable sites on Mars that are not only habitable, but inhabited?
Which brings me back to the Earth. Do we know if the biomass of the Earth has ever - well, in the last three billion years or so - been thousands of times smaller than it is now?
Ann
[quote="Nitpicker"]That's very interesting. But by my calculations, the highest localised reading from Curiosity (7 parts per billion) suggested a proportion of methane ~100 times smaller than in Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere (or ~250 times smaller than in our current atmosphere). And with the atmospheric pressure on Mars being (in nice round figures) ~100 times lower than on Earth, I think we're talking ~10,000 times fewer molecules of methane, per unit volume.[/quote]
Would you say, Nit, that if we assume that all the methane in the atmosphere of Mars is produced by life forms, that would also mean that the ~10,000 times fewer molecules of methane per unit volume of Martian atmosphere compared with the atmosphere of Earth, would also mean that the methane-producing biomass of Mars would be 10,000 times smaller on Mars than on Earth?
It would of course be fantastically interesting if there really is life on Mars. The way I read you, Nit, there can only be relatively little of it. Can we be talking about relatively small favorable sites on Mars that are not only habitable, but inhabited?
Which brings me back to the Earth. Do we know if the biomass of the Earth has ever - well, in the last three billion years or so - been thousands of times smaller than it is now?
Ann