Science · Research & investigation
Andrew Steele
Astrobiology and meteorite researcher
Who they are
Andrew Steele led a study of organic material in the Martian meteorite ALH84001, published in 2022. His team connected the material with mineral reactions involving water and rock, providing a nonbiological explanation for an important part of the meteorite evidence. The work belongs to the continuing effort to distinguish possible biosignatures from geochemical processes.
He supplies the later scientific reassessment in the ALH84001 entry, showing how competing explanations can be tested against the same specimen.
Selected contributions
- Led the 2022 study linking organic material with serpentinization and carbonation reactions in ALH84001.Source ↗Source 2 ↗
Selected works
Academic paper · 2022 · Peer-reviewed article; NTRS provides an accepted-manuscript download
Organic synthesis associated with serpentinization and carbonation on early Mars
The abstract reports organic material associated with minerals formed by reactions between water and rock in ALH84001. The authors propose nonbiological synthesis mechanisms, illustrating why organic carbon alone is not sufficient evidence of past life.
Reading scope & citation
Freshly read original abstract, complete author list and citation in NTRS. The downloadable accepted manuscript was not read. The repository’s January 22 field differs from other journal indexing; only the unambiguous year is used.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abg7905
In the timeline
Biography sources
- Martian meteorite organic material and abiotic formation ↗NASA
- Organic synthesis associated with serpentinization and carbonation on early Mars ↗Science / AAAS; NASA Technical Reports Server