[M-IS03] Astrobiology

[MIS03-P05] Development of advanced life detection methods from rock samples

*Mariko Kouduka¹, Yohey Suzuki¹ (1.Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.)

One of the most promising planetary bodies where extraterrestrial life is present is Mars. Although drill core samples from igneous rocks will be returned from the Mars2020 target site (Jazzero), life detection methods remain poorly developed for igneous rocks even drilled on Earth. Previously, we succeeded in detecting life by preparing thin sections of resin-embedded drill core samples. However, the resin interference is problematic for characterizing organic molecules originally included in the rock core samples. In this study, we applied a diamond bad saw used to cut and polish Hayabusa 2 samples without resin-embedment to previously characterized rock samples. In addition, we applied submicron-scale mapping of light and heavy elements by a synchrotron-based spectroscopic method for the rock core samples prepared by the diamond bad saw. In our presentation, results of our development will be presented in comparison with those from the resin-based method.