Yes. There are several sites on the surface of Mars that could be a habitat for Earth life. This is one - there are many gullies and dark streaks and such like on Mars, but these particular ones, the Warm Seasonal Flows occur in situations where water is the only hypothesis so far to explain them.
This animation shows how the flows change throughout a season.
Also water is the best model for the "Flow Like Features" or FLF for short, which you can see here, gradual progression from left to right in the sequence of images. This is in the South polar region.
The way it works is, according to their model - that the ice forms a thin translucent layer - and as it warms up in summer - then the ice melts a layer of water beneath it, a process that is reasonably well known on the Earth.
Then, recent discovery that you can get water in Mars surface conditions, on the interface between salt and ice, rather easily - the "swimming pools for bacteria"
Most Earth microbes would quickly die in Mars conditions. But some extremophiles would manage there just fine.
This is one of several Mars analogue candidates that may be able to live in these habitats.
Chroococcidiopsis
It has the remarkable ability to heal its own DNA even when cut into tiny slices by ionizing radiation - within a few hours.
See also
UV & Cosmic Radiation On Mars - Why They Aren't Lethal For The "Swimming Pools For Bacteria"
How Life May Exist On Mars With Atmosphere Close To Equilibrium
This means we need to take a great deal of care with spacecraft we send there, to make sure they don't introduce Earth life to the planet, see
Imagined Colours Of Future Mars - What Happens If We Treat A Planet As A Giant Petri Dish?
Also water is the best model for the "Flow Like Features" or FLF for short, which you can see here, gradual progression from left to right in the sequence of images. This is in the South polar region.
The way it works is, according to their model - that the ice forms a thin translucent layer - and as it warms up in summer - then the ice melts a layer of water beneath it, a process that is reasonably well known on the Earth.
This picture shows ice melt in Antarctica by solid state greenhouse effect - the surface stays frozen, and deeper down, it melts, in a layer about 0.5 m deep - because the translucent ice above it acts as a greenhouse. Taken from: Melting, runoff and the formation of frozen lakes in a mixed snow and blue-ice field in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
Then, recent discovery that you can get water in Mars surface conditions, on the interface between salt and ice, rather easily - the "swimming pools for bacteria"
Most Earth microbes would quickly die in Mars conditions. But some extremophiles would manage there just fine.
This is one of several Mars analogue candidates that may be able to live in these habitats.
It has the remarkable ability to heal its own DNA even when cut into tiny slices by ionizing radiation - within a few hours.
See also
UV & Cosmic Radiation On Mars - Why They Aren't Lethal For The "Swimming Pools For Bacteria"
How Life May Exist On Mars With Atmosphere Close To Equilibrium
This means we need to take a great deal of care with spacecraft we send there, to make sure they don't introduce Earth life to the planet, see
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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