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A second mechanism, radiolysis, may generate the rest.

Now a study published in Astrobiology contends that radiolysis could have powered microbial life in the Martian subsurface.

Extrapolating these rates over geologically important periods of time and merging with modeled radiolysis data yields a predicted 1000-fold decrease in 100–atomic mass unit organic molecules in ∼650 million years.

It’s covered by the ancient Gawler Craton, and its iron and uranium mines point to the source rocks needed for both serpentinization and radiolysis.

They plugged these attributes into a computer model that simulated radiolysis to see how efficiently the process would have generated hydrogen gas and sulfates: chemical ingredients that can power the metabolism of underground bacteria.