Astrobiology at AGU

To all in the NASA Astrobiology Community who plan to attend the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting,

Below is a special request from Max Coleman at JPL for your consideration in submitting an abstract to his session at the AGU 2013 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, 9-12 December, followed by a short list of other astrobiology-related sessions at the conference.

From Max:

The session is a really comprehensive one about biosignatures and we have managed to persuade a stellar slate of Invited Abstracts from (in alphabetical order) Dave DesMarais, Danny Glavin, Chris McKay and Everett Shock who variously will give papers on biosignature-related topics (in alphabetical order) Instruments, Outer planets, Planetary analogs and Terrestrial planets.  
 
P033 Tracking Down Life - Star Biosignatures, Biomarker Systems or the Ensemble Cast?

The biosignatures with real star quality of those that are unambiguous, perfectly preserved biomolecules that could not have been formed by an abiotic process. However, these biosignatures are chemically fragile and may not be well preserved. At the other end of the spectrum are some of the mineral biosignatures, produced by the preservation of inorganic metabolic products, which may be much more robust but could be the products of inorganic reactions. Issues of preservation and organic versus inorganic origins can sometimes be addressed through new analytical techniques. A systematic approach to searching for signs of life should encompass all possibilities. In addition, mineral biosignatures may not only preserve biochemical ones within them, but they may also act as beacons of, or pathfinders to, preserved ecosystems which represent the most likely locations for detection of unambiguous evidence. In this sense, broader paleoenvironmental and geologic context becomes critical for evaluating the confidence of biosignatures.

In this session, we seek a very wide range of abstracts covering subjects, such as planetary, terrestrial analogue and ancient Earth environments; organic , gaseous and mineral biosignatures; biomarker systems; non-Earth-centric biomarkers; mineral and geological indicators for ecosystems; biosignature detection instruments (for planetary in situ, terrestrial field site or laboratory deployment), among many others. We would especially welcome contributions that offer quantitative information on the likely distribution and probability of preservation of any of the range of biosignatures that have been proposed. We hope to cover a range of approaches, be they clear “star biosignatures”, “biosignature systems”, or the all-essential supporting actors or a complete ensemble.

Thanks,

Max Coleman <max.coleman@jpl.nasa.gov>
Clark Johnson <clarkj@geology.wisc.edu>
Mark Sephton <m.a.sephton@imperial.ac.uk>

Contact any or all of us if you have any questions

Other astrobiology-related sessions at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting include:

Cynthia Phillips, Franck Marchis, and Nathalie Cabrol:
P022: Rapid Environmental Change and the Fate of Planetary Habitability
https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2013/scientific-program/session-search/sessions/p022-rapid-environmental-change-and-the-fate-of-planetary-habitability/

Britney Schmidt, Alyssa Rhoden, Cynthia Phillips, Paul Hayne:
P005: Destination: Europa
https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2013/scientific-program/session-search/sessions/p005-destination-europa/

Eric Boyd, Everett Shock
B073: Windows into the Deep Subsurface Biosphere: Coupled Geochemical and Biological Investigations of Terrestrial Hot Spring Ecosystems
https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2013/scientific-program/session-search/sessions/b073-windows-into-to-the-deep-subsurface-biosphere-coupled-geochemical-and-biological-investigations-of-terrestrial-hot-spring-ecosystems-2/

Chris McKay, Carolyn Porco
P008: Enceladus: Little Moon, Big Possibilities
https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2013/scientific-program/session-search/sessions/p008-enceladus-little-moon-big-possibilities/