Alfonso Davila

Chance and necessity in biochemistry: implications for the search for extraterrestrial biomarkers in Earth-like environm...

Published in International Journal of Astrobiology

In this paper, we examine a restricted subset of the question of possible alien biochemistries. That is, we look into how different life might be if it emerged in environments similar to that required for life on Earth. We advocate a principle of chance and necessity in biochemistry. According to this principle, biochemistry is in some fundamental ...

The high elevation Dry Valleys in Antarctica as analog sites for subsurface ice on Mars

Published in Planetary and Space Science

The high elevation valleys of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are the only locations on Earth known to contain dry permafrost. The Dry Valleys are a hyper-arid polar desert environment and above 1500 m elevation, air temperatures do not exceed 0 C and thus, similarly to Mars, liquid water is largely absent and instead the hydrologic cycle is ...

Salt deliquescence drives photosynthesis in the hyperarid Atacama Desert

Published in Environmental Microbiology Reports

Radiocarbon evidence of active endolithic microbial communities in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

Published in Astrobiology. Accepted

Distribution of depth to ice-cemented soils in the high-elevation Quartermain Mountains

Published in Antarctic Science FirstView

Perchlorate and chlorate biogeochemistry in ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

We measured chlorate (ClO 3−) and perchlorate (ClO 4−) concentrations in ice covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica, to evaluate their role in the ecology and geochemical evolution of the lakes. ClO 3− and ClO 4− are present throughout the MDV Lakes, streams, and other surface water bodies. ClO 3− and ClO 4− originate in the ...

Novel water source for endolithic life in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

Published in Biogeosciences

The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, Chile, is possibly the driest and most life- limited place on Earth, yet endolithic microorganisms thrive inside halite pinnacles that are part of ancient salt flats. The existence of this microbial community in an environment that excludes any other life forms suggests biological adaptation to high salinit...

LunarVader: Development and testing of lunar drill in vacuum chamber and in lunar analog site of antarctica

Published in International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

Future exploration of the Moon will require access to the subsurface and acquisition of samples for scientific analysis and ground truthing of water-ice and mineral reserves for in situ resource utilization purposes. The LunarVader drill described in this paper is a 1-m class drill and cuttings acquisition system enabling subsurface exploration of ...

Perchlorate and chlorate biogeochemistry in ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Published in Antarctica. Geochem. Cosmochem. Acta

Formation and evolution of buried snowpack deposits in Pearse Valley, Antarctica, and implications for Mars

Published in Antarctic Science

The Icebreaker: Mars Drill and Sample Delivery System

Glacial origin of fretted terrains on Mars

Novel water source for endolithic life in the Atacama Desert s hyper-arid core

Published in Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences

Glacial Paleoenvironments on Mars Revealed by the Paucity of Hydrated Silicates in the Noachian Crust of the Northern Lo...

Published in Planetary and Space Science

Meteorites at Meridiani Planum provide evidence for significant amounts of surface and near-surface water on early Mars

Published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science

Microbial colonization of Ca-sulfate crusts in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert: implications for the search for...

Published in Geobiology

Mapping the depth to ice-cemented ground in the high elevation Dry Valleys

Published in Antarctica. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts

Sublimation-dominated active layers in the highlands of the Antarctic Dry Valleys and implications for other sites

Dry Soils: The Highlands of the Antarctic Dry Valleys and the Defining Environmental Conditions

Published in EPSC-DPS Joint

Salts, Ice and Live on Mars

Published in The New Scientist