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Abstract
There is a long and focused history of exploration on. Part of the reason for the intensity of interest is that Earth and Mars are thought have had similar Early histories. Discoveries on Mars can provide important implications for Earth including evolution of life, climate dynamics, geologic processes, and sustainable resource utilization. Critical zone science provides a useful framework for studying the complex processes related to the topics from a system-wide approach. This dissertation presents a series of studies that seek to apply the critical zone framework to agricultural applications on Mars. The objective is to explore the potential of Mars surface materials for agricultural applications and the use of Microbial inoculants in Martian agriculture. This provides a foundation on which to design future agricultural systems for Mars and other extraterrestrial environments and increase understanding for the potential habitability of Mars from a critical zone perspective.