FWIW I am fairly sure the name is a reference to an old Robert Heinlein novel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars
I quite enjoyed it at the time, and I think Lowe is about as old as me...
The presence of hydrocarbons would be useful to potential future settlers too, since it can be used as feedstock for things like plastics and petrochemicals.
It can be made from CO2 + H2O with a lot of energy, but it'd be easier to have at least some ready-made to get started.
So much circumstantial evidence of past life on mars is infuriating. Wish we could find something definitive!
(.pdf) https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/content/uploadFiles/public... ("Long-chain alkanes preserved in a Martian mudstone")