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Regarding possible methane on Mars, please see my paper "Oil and Natural Gas
on Mars" from 2000.

Oil and natural gas on Mars
John F. McGowan III, "Oil and natural gas on Mars," in Instruments, Methods,
and Missions for Astrobiology III, Richard B. Hoover, Editor, Proceedings of
SPIE Vol. 4137, pp. 63-74 (2000).

ABSTRACT

On Earth, according to conventional theory, the largest, by mass and volume,
identifiable trace of past life is subsurface oil and natural gas deposits.
Nearly all coal and oil on Earth and most sedimentary source rocks
associated with coal, oil, and natural gas contain molecules of biological
origin and is proof of past life. If Mars possessed an Earth-like biosphere
in the past, Mars may contain subsurface deposits of oil and natural gas
indicating past life. Life might still exist in these deposits. Subsurface
oil and natural gas on Mars would probably cause seepage of hydrocarbon
gases such as methane at favorable locations on the Martian surface.
Further, if Mars contains substantial subsurface life, the most detectable
signature of this life on the Martian surface would be gases generated by
the life percolating up to the surface and venting into the Martian
atmosphere. In this paper, systems that can detect evidence of subsurface
oil and gas, including ground penetrating radar and infrared gas sensors are
explored. The limitations and future prospects of infrared gas detection and
imaging technologies are explored. The power, mass, and volume requirements
for infrared instruments able to detect venting gases, especially methane,
from an aerobot is estimated. The maximum range from the infrared sensor to
the gas vent and the minimum detectable gas density or fraction of the
Martian atmosphere - as appropriate for the instrument type - is estimated.
The bit rate and bit error rate requirements for transmitting the data back
to Earth are also estimated.

[http://www.jmcgowan.com/mars_reprint.PDF]http://www.jmcgowan.com/mars_reprint.PDF

Sincerely,

John McGowan