10 June 2015 · Published

Why Life Isn’t Detectable on the Surface of Mars

WordPress backup · Encyclopedia of the Solar System, 2nd ed., p. 307

Original wording. Not rewritten as Paper I. Withdrawn claims stay visible so the record is not erased.

“Mars lacks an ozone layer, and the thin, dry atmosphere allows very short wavelength ultraviolet radiation to penetrate to the surface. In particular, solar ultraviolet radiation in the range 190-300 nm, which is largely shielded on Earth by the ozone layer, can reach the lower atmosphere and surface on Mars.”

“This allows water vapor dissociation close to the Martian surface… oxidizing free radicals are produced in near-surface air. In turn, any organic material near the surface rapidly decomposes, and the soil near the surface oxidizes. These conditions as well as the lack of liquid water probably preclude life at the surface on present-day Mars.”

Paper I fences life to one sentence. This clipping is why the 2015 site said life would not be sitting on the ground.