Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26690960›Full record

ArticleJournal of geophysical research. Planets2015

Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars.

C Freissinet, D P Glavin, P R Mahaffy, K E Miller, J L Eigenbrode, R E Summons, A E Brunner, A Buch, C Szopa, P D Archer and 28 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of geophysical research. Planets, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
77citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

77 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Molecular assembly as a universal biosignature measurable by mass spectrometry.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. The Role of Benzonitrile Chlorination Explored by Dissociative Electron Attachment.Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Long-chain alkanes preserved in a Martian mudstone.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  8. Perspectives on Mars Sample Return: A critical resource for planetary science and exploration.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  9. Organic matter and biomarkers: Why are samples required?Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
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  15. Review
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17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

38 authors.

C FreissinetSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; NASA Postdoctoral Program, Oak Ridge Associated Universities Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
D P GlavinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
P R MahaffySolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
K E MillerDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
J L EigenbrodeSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
R E SummonsDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
A E BrunnerSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology, University of Maryland College Park, Maryland, USA.
A BuchLaboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, Ecole Centrale Paris Châtenay-Malabry, France.
C SzopaLaboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and CNRS Paris, France.
P D ArcherJacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas, USA.
H B FranzSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
S K AtreyaDepartment of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
W B BrinckerhoffSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
M CabaneLaboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and CNRS Paris, France.
P CollLaboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Paris VII-Denis Diderot University, and CNRS Créteil, France.
P G ConradSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
D J Des MaraisExobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California, USA.
J P DworkinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
A G FairénDepartment of Astronomy, Cornell University Ithaca, New York, USA ; Centro de Astrobiología, INTA-CSIC Madrid, Spain.
P FrançoisDepartment of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
J P GrotzingerDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California, USA.
S KashyapSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
I L Ten KateEarth Sciences Department, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands.
L A LeshinDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences and School of Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York, USA.
C A MalespinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Goddard Earth Sciences and Technologies and Research, Universities Space Research Association Columbia, Maryland, USA.
M G MartinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Department of Chemistry, Catholic University of America Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
F J Martin-TorresInstituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR) Granada, Spain ; Division of Space Technology, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology Kiruna, Sweden.
A C McAdamSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
D W MingAstromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas, USA.
R Navarro-GonzálezInstituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria México City, Mexico.
A A PavlovSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
B D PratsSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
S W SquyresDepartment of Astronomy, Cornell University Ithaca, New York, USA.
A SteeleGeophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
J C SternSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
D Y SumnerDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis, California, USA.
B SutterJacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas, USA.
M-P ZorzanoCentro de Astrobiologia (INTA-CSIC) Madrid, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on board the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover is designed to conduct inorganic and organic chemical analyses of the atmosphere and the surface regolith and rocks to help evaluate the past and present habitability potential of Mars at Gale Crater. Central to this task is the development of an inventory of any organic molecules present to elucidate processes associated with their origin, diagenesis, concentration, and long-term preservation. This will guide the future search for biosignatures. Here we report the definitive identification of chlorobenzene (150-300 parts per billion by weight (ppbw)) and C KEY POINTS: First in situ evidence of nonterrestrial organics in Martian surface sediments Chlorinated hydrocarbons identified in the Sheepbed mudstone by SAM Organics preserved in sample exposed to ionizing radiation and oxidative condition.

Indexed as

chlorobenzeneMarsMSLorganic moleculesoxychlorineSAM

Identifiers

PMID26690960
PMCPMC4672966

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.