Martian Life's Last Stand

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If there was life on Mars, scientists may have found one of its final resting spots.

Scientists have found water-bearing deposits on Mars that are out of step with what was happening elsewhere on the planet, raising the prospect that the sites could have hosted Martian life's last stand.

The deposits are a type of clay called smectites, which contain a blend of silica with aluminum, iron or magnesium. They form in the presence of water.

The deposits were found in an unlikely locale -- roughly 30 feet up from the ground inside two troughs in Noctis Labyrinthus ("the labyrinth of the night"), a maze-like system of deep valleys located near the western end of the massive Valles Marineris canyon that cuts across the face of Mars.

http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-li ... 10927.html