Jarosite the destroyer of organic compounds

Scientists have been tracing the sign of life in the entire universe to find out is life possible outside earth and so far they are unable to find any trace. Mars is the perfect place where we can look for life and many missions are operating there one very famous curiosity is operating on the surface of Mars looking for signs of life. There is a bad news for the curiosity mission, a new study from the Imperial College of London reveals about a mineral names Jarosite (KFe3+3(SO4)2(OH)6) which destroys the organic compounds which are building blocks of life and are responsible for the development of lifeforms in earth without leaving any trace of it.

Structure of jarosite 

The research was conducted in the Imperial College where similar tests were conducted as they were to be done by Curiosity in Mars in which Jarosite on heating breaks down to give oxygen and chlorine gas which inturns react with organic compounds breaking them into carbondioxide and water without leaving traces of Jarosite and organic compounds. If Jarosite is present in the soil of the red planet then it would be impossible to detect evidence of life and it would ruin the entire mission, these research helps the future missions which will be launched in future for deduction of life. But in contrary under normal conditions in earth where Jarosites are present there is life going on in, many bacterias are living in Jarosite environment. The research claims that Jarosite destroys the life forms or organic compounds when it gets heated up and it is possible that Jarosite may be present in Mars soil as it is found in earth.