{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T02:14:40Z","timestamp":1790561680893,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Astrobiology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The measured abundance (30\u201350 ppb) of long-chain (C\n                    <jats:sub>10<\/jats:sub>\n                    \u2013C\n                    <jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>\n                    ) alkanes and their possible carboxylic acid precursors found in the ancient Cumberland mudstone in Gale crater would have been substantially higher before the onset of exposure to ionizing radiation approximately 80 million years ago. Based on recent radiolysis experiments, we estimate conservatively that the Cumberland mudstone would have contained 120\u20137700 ppm of long-chain alkanes and\/or fatty acids before ionizing radiation exposure. Such a high concentration of large organic molecules in martian sedimentary rocks cannot be readily explained by the accretion of organics from carbon-rich interplanetary dust particles and meteorites, nor by the deposition of hypothetical haze-derived organics from an ancient martian atmosphere. We discuss the feasibility of two additional mechanisms\u2013\u2013one abiotic and one biological\u2013\u2013that could have been capable of depositing this level of long-straight-chain organic molecules in the ancient martian mudstones: allochthonous transport of hydrothermally synthesized organics and autochthonous accumulation of organics from a hypothetical ancient Mars biosphere. To advance and test these and any additional working hypotheses put forth to explain such high concentrations of primary organics on Mars requires an understanding of the radiolytic degradation products expected for organics preserved in mineralogically comparable mudstones.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15311074261417879","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T09:50:24Z","timestamp":1770198624000},"page":"154-161","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Does the Measured Abundance Suggest a Biological Origin for the Ancient Alkanes Preserved in a Martian Mudstone?"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Alexander A.","family":"Pavlov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline","family":"Freissinet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LATMOS\/IPSL, UVSQ Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Universit\u00e9, CNRS, Guyancourt, France."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel P.","family":"Glavin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher H.","family":"House","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environment Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer C.","family":"Stern","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy C.","family":"McAdam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anais","family":"Roussel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jason P.","family":"Dworkin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luoth","family":"Chou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew","family":"Steele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth and Planetary Laboratory, Carnegie Science, Washington, District of Columbia, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul R.","family":"Mahaffy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denise","family":"Buckner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felipe","family":"Gomez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Astrobiolog\u00eda (INTA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gca.2014.01.035"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.orggeochem.2009.06.009"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.040539497"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/283.2.551"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Bonnet JY Szopa C Coscia D et al. 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