Stony Brook scientists who studied the samples played an important role in our vastly increased knowledge of the nature and origin of the Moon that stemmed from the Apollo project. A shroud of poor resolution has given way to breathtaking photographs of a now barren, wind blown surface, but one with a rich early geological history shaped by rivers, oceans and glaciers. Sophisticated instruments are mapping the surface topography in stunning detail and delineating the magnetic and mineralogical character of the Martian surface. Meteorites, derived from Mars, have provided tantalizing, but thus far inconclusive and controversial, evidence for microbial life on early Mars and this possibility is a major driving force in the Mars space program over the next decade, ultimately resulting in sample return by about 2008. The Mars Exploration Program Home Page has links to the home pages of each of the major missions, the history of Mars exploration, the most recent images from Mars, and much more.
Sediments are also repositories and natural processing sites for a range of anthropogenic wastes.
Bottom-dwelling animals play an extremely important role in controlling physical and chemical properties of the seafloor, and can influence plankton productivity in overlying water. Although muds and sands may sometime appear quiescent and boring, the seafloor is in fact riddled with structures formed by bottom-dwelling fauna, and is in a constant state of dynamic renovation by inhabitants. Worms and other benthic organisms in marine sediments can play biogeochemical roles analogous to those of earthworms in soils on land. For example, nutrient cycling processes such as organic matter decomposition and natural denitrification are greatly enhanced by bottom-dwelling animal activity. One of the effects of low oxygen in overlying water is to eliminate large benthic organisms and thereby greatly alter elemental cycling and storage processes at the seafloor.