water is because of U.V. radiation from the Sun. the water vapor is broken down into hydrogen which diffuses up into the upper atmosphere. It is thought that most of the water must be tied up in a permafrost subsurface layer or the northern ice cap ("Mars Atmosphere and the Search for Life" Internet). This is what humans would be living in if there was ever a colony on Mars.The atmosphere of Mars is very harsh and seems to be no place for life to exist. There is evidence of ancient life on Mars, but not in a place expected to have it. This is not life that is still alive and visible to the naked eye. It is life in a meteorite named ALH84001 found in the Allan Hills area of Antarctica (Dasch internet). This meteorite is brick-shaped, is 17X9.5X6.5 centimeters and weighs nearly 2 kilograms. It is older than any known rock on Earth. It is quite unusual, but its martian origin was not discovered until 1993. Having solidified from lava about 4.5 billion years ago, this rock came from the most ancient part on Mars, the southern hemisphere which is covered with asteriod impact craters (Dash Internet). The rock is made up of carbonate minerals and possible remnants of ancient martian life. One of the minerals is called Carbonate Globules. The globules are made of siderite (iron carbonate, brownish) and magnesite (magnesium carbonate clear). That is what is inside, but on the outside it is dark, made of rich iron (Dasch Internet). The globules part of the rock is where scientist say relics of martian life are found. There are three ways scientist are finding evidence that might be from ancient life on Mars. The first one is by looking at the mineral grains. Magnetite grains are similar to some produced by bacteria on Earth. The second way is by looking at organic chemical molecules that might be from decomposed organisms (Dasch Internet). The third way is looking at object that have the same sizes and shapes as some Earth ba...
