Abstrakt
This chapter reviews the application of miniaturized Raman spectroscopic instrumentation for terrestrial geological field applications, which has demonstrated the feasibility of analyzing materials in situ and without the need for removal of specimens to study using laboratory fixed-base instrumentation. A particular feature of the use of Raman spectroscopic instrumentation in these environments is the capability to detect the presence of extremophilic biological and biogeological materials arising from organisms that have modified their geological niche environments.
Detecting low concentrations of biomarkers in the frame of host mineral matrices for future use in search for life space missions seems to be the important challenge for instrumentation in the astrobiology area. A Raman spectral biosignature is a unique band from a compound that has been synthesized exclusively by biological organisms, henceforth known as a biomarker, and which ideally is relatively stable under niche astrogeological conditions.