CHANDIGARH, July 28, 2025 – The steaming hot springs nestled in Ladakh’s high-altitude Puga Valley may hold vital clues to the origins of life on Earth — and possibly Mars — according to a pathbreaking study by Indian scientists. Their findings are expected to bolster India’s space exploration and astrobiology efforts.
In a landmark discovery, researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences have identified that calcium carbonate deposits from the Puga hot springs can trap and preserve key organic molecules essential for life — such as amino acid derivatives, formamide, fatty acids, and sulphur compounds.
Unlike the widely accepted silica-based theories of life’s origin, this study proposes a new angle: the catalytic and preservative role of carbonate minerals, particularly calcite, under extreme prebiotic conditions.
“The extreme environment of Puga acts like a natural prebiotic reactor. Our findings provide the first real-world evidence that calcium carbonate can concentrate, stabilise, and preserve organic precursors necessary for the emergence of life,” said lead author Dr Amritpal Singh Chaddha.
Located at an altitude of around 14,500 feet, Puga is a geothermal hotspot. The study observed rapid carbonate precipitation in the valley’s hot spring ecosystem, which the researchers analysed using advanced techniques in inorganic and organic geochemistry.
Published in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the research suggests that such deposits — known as travertine — could serve as reliable biosignature markers in planetary exploration.
“This discovery not only enhances our understanding of how life may have originated on Earth but also opens new pathways in the search for life on Mars,” noted the Ministry of Science and Technology. “It could contribute significantly to ISRO’s future missions, especially those focused on biosignature detection.”
Beyond planetary science, the findings could also help develop new life-detection tools and materials in synthetic biology and astrobiology.
