The Emergence of Life Camprubí, E.; de Leeuw, J. W.; House, C. H. ...
Space science reviews,
12/2019, Letnik:
215, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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The aim of this article is to provide the reader with an overview of the different possible scenarios for the emergence of life, to critically assess them and, according to the conclusions we reach, ...to analyze whether similar processes could have been conducive to independent origins of life on the several icy moons of the Solar System. Instead of directly proposing a concrete and unequivocal cradle of life on Earth, we focus on describing the different requirements that are arguably needed for the transition between non-life to life. We approach this topic from geological, biological, and chemical perspectives with the aim of providing answers in an integrative manner. We reflect upon the most prominent origins hypotheses and assess whether they match the aforementioned abiogenic requirements. Based on the conclusions extracted, we address whether the conditions for abiogenesis are/were met in any of the oceanic icy moons.
Reasons for the large uncertainty in land use and land cover change (LULCC) emissions go beyond recognized issues related to the available data on land cover change and the fact that model ...simulations rely on a simplified and incomplete description of the complexity of biological and LULCC processes. The large range across published LULCC emission estimates is also fundamentally driven by the fact that the net LULCC flux is defined and calculated in different ways across models. We introduce a conceptual framework that allows us to compare the different types of models and simulation setups used to derive land use fluxes. We find that published studies are based on at least nine different definitions of the net LULCC flux. Many multi-model syntheses lack a clear agreement on definition. Our analysis reveals three key processes that are accounted for in different ways: the land use feedback, the loss of additional sink capacity, and legacy (regrowth and decomposition) fluxes. We show that these terminological differences, alone, explain differences between published net LULCC flux estimates that are of the same order as the published estimates themselves. This has consequences for quantifications of the residual terrestrial sink: the spread in estimates caused by terminological differences is conveyed to those of the residual sink. Furthermore, the application of inconsistent definitions of net LULCC flux and residual sink has led to double-counting of fluxes in the past. While the decision to use a specific definition of the net LULCC flux will depend on the scientific application and potential political considerations, our analysis shows that the uncertainty of the net LULCC flux can be substantially reduced when the existing terminological confusion is resolved.
The sample analysis at Mars instrument evolved gas analyzer (SAM-EGA) has detected evolved water, H2, SO2, H2S, NO, CO2, CO, O2, and HCl from two eolian sediments and nine sedimentary rocks from Gale ...Crater, Mars. These evolved gas detections indicate nitrates, organics, oxychlorine phase, and sulfates are widespread with phyllosilicates and carbonates occurring in select Gale Crater materials. Coevolved CO2 (160 +/- 248-2373 +/- 820 μgC(CO2)/g) and CO (11 +/- 3-320 +/- 130 μgC(CO)/g) suggest that organic C is present in Gale Crater materials. Five samples evolved CO2 at temperatures consistent with carbonate (0.32 +/- 0.05-0.70 +/- 0.1 wt % CO3). Evolved NO amounts to 0.002 +/- 0.007-0.06 +/- 0.03 wt % NO3. Evolution of O2 suggests that oxychlorine phases (chlorate/perchlorate) (0.05 +/- 0.025-1.05 +/- 0.44 wt % ClO4) are present, while SO2 evolution indicates the presence of crystalline and/or poorly crystalline Fe and Mg sulfate and possibly sulfide. Evolved H2O (0.9 +/- 0.3-2.5 +/- 1.6 wt % H2O) is consistent with the presence of adsorbed water, hydrated salts, interlayer/structural water from phyllosilicates, and possible inclusion water in mineral/amorphous phases. Evolved H2 and H2S suggest that reduced phases occur despite the presence of oxidized phases (nitrate, oxychlorine, sulfate, and carbonate). SAM results coupled with CheMin mineralogical and Alpha-Particle X-ray Spectrometer elemental analyses indicate that Gale Crater sedimentary rocks have experienced a complex authigenetic/diagenetic history involving fluids with varying pH, redox, and salt composition. The inferred geochemical conditions were favorable for microbial habitability and if life ever existed, there was likely sufficient organic C to support a small microbial population.
Evolved gas analysis (EGA) data from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite indicated Fe-rich smectite, carbonate, oxidized organics, Fe/Mg sulfate, and chloride in sedimentary rocks from ...the Glen Torridon (GT) region of Gale crater that displayed phyllosilicate spectral signatures from orbit. SAM evolved H2O data indicated that the primary phyllosilicate in all GT samples was an Fe-rich dioctahedral smectite (e.g., nontronite) with lesser amounts of a phyllosilicate such as mixed layer talc-serpentine or greenalite-minnesotaite. CO(2) data supported the identification of siderite in several samples, and CO(2) and CO data was also consistent with trace oxidized organic compounds such as oxalate salts. SO(2) data indicated trace and/or amorphous Fe sulfates in all samples and one sample may contain Fe sulfides. SO(2) data points to significant Mg sulfates in two samples, and lesser amounts in several other samples. A lack of evolved O(2) indicated the absence of oxychlorine salts and Mn3+/Mn4+ oxides. The lack of, or very minor, evolved NO revealed absent or very trace nitrate/nitrite salts. HCl data suggested chloride salts in GT samples. Constraints from EGA data on mineralogy and chemistry indicated that the environmental history of GT involved alteration with fluids of variable redox potential, chemistry and pH under a range of fluid-to-rock ratio conditions. Several of the fluid episodes could have provided habitable environmental conditions and carbon would have been available to any past microbes though the lack of significant N could have been a limiting factor for microbial habitability in the GT region.
Geochemical results are presented from Curiosity's exploration of Vera Rubin ridge (VRR), in addition to the full chemostratigraphy of the predominantly lacustrine mudstone Murray formation up to and ...including VRR. VRR is a prominent ridge flanking Aeolis Mons (informally Mt. Sharp), the central mound in Gale crater, Mars, and was a key area of interest for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. ChemCam data show that VRR is overall geochemically similar to lower‐lying members of the Murray formation, even though the top of VRR shows a strong hematite spectral signature as observed from orbit. Although overall geochemically similar, VRR is characterized by a prominent decrease in Li abundance and Chemical Index of Alteration across the ridge. This decrease follows the morphology of the ridge rather than elevation and is inferred to reflect a nondepositionally controlled decrease in clay mineral abundance in VRR rocks. Additionally, a notable enrichment in Mn above baseline levels is observed on VRR. While not supporting a single model, the results suggest that VRR rocks were likely affected by multiple episodes of postdepositional groundwater interactions that made them more erosionally resistant than surrounding Murray rocks, thus resulting in the modern‐day ridge after subsequent erosion.
Plain Language Summary
Results from the ChemCam instrument on Vera Rubin ridge (VRR) in Gale crater, Mars, are presented and compared with observations from similar rocks leading up to the ridge. VRR is a prominent ridge, flanking the central mound, Aeolis Mons, in Gale crater, Mars. The ridge attracted early attention because it displays strong iron‐oxide spectral signatures. Surprisingly, ChemCam data show that VRR rocks do not show an overall increase in iron abundance relative to the comparable bedrock analyzed for almost 300 m in elevation leading up to the ridge. While similar overall, some notable variations were observed on VRR relative to lower‐lying rocks. In particular, geochemical variations suggest a strong decrease in clay content on the ridge, above which, a notable enrichment in Mn is observed. No single geological process confidently explains all observations on the ridge. Rather, we think that VRR rocks underwent a series of interactions with groundwater that caused the rocks of VRR to become more resistant to erosion than their surroundings, thus emerging as a ridge as the rocks around them eroded. This likely implies that groundwater persisted in Gale crater even long after the disappearance of the ancient lake.
Key Points
A decrease in Li and Chemical Index of Alteration, reflecting clay mineral content, is observed across Vera Rubin ridge (VRR)
A Mn‐rich interval is observed stratigraphically above the decrease in clay mineral content on VRR
VRR likely resulted from increased induration from late‐stage fluid interactions long after the lake environment in Gale crater ceased
Microorganisms living in anoxic marine sediments consume more than 80% of the methane produced in the world's oceans. In addition to single-species aggregates, consortia of metabolically ...interdependent bacteria and archaea are found in methane-rich sediments. A combination of fluorescence in situ hybridization and secondary ion mass spectrometry shows that cells belonging to one specific archaeal group associated with the Methanosarcinales were all highly depleted in13C (to values of -96‰). This depletion indicates assimilation of isotopically light methane into specific archaeal cells. Additional microbial species apparently use other carbon sources, as indicated by significantly higher13C/12C ratios in their cell carbon. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of simultaneous determination of the identity and the metabolic activity of naturally occurring microorganisms.
The Curiosity rover investigated a topographic structure known as Vera Rubin ridge, associated with a hematite signature in orbital spectra. There, Curiosity encountered mudstones interpreted as ...lacustrine deposits, conformably overlying the 300 m‐thick underlying sedimentary rocks of the Murray formation at the base of Mount Sharp. While the presence of hematite (α‐Fe2O3) was confirmed in situ by both Mastcam and ChemCam spectral observations and by the CheMin instrument, neither ChemCam nor APXS observed any significant increase in FeOT (total iron oxide) abundances compared to the rest of the Murray formation. Instead, Curiosity discovered dark‐toned diagenetic features displaying anomalously high FeOT abundances, commonly observed in association with light‐toned Ca‐sulfate veins but also as crystal pseudomorphs in the host rock. These iron‐rich diagenetic features are predominantly observed in “gray” outcrops on the upper part of the ridge, which lack the telltale ferric signature of other Vera Rubin ridge outcrops. Their composition is consistent with anhydrous Fe‐oxide, as the enrichment in iron is not associated with enrichment in any other elements, nor with detections of volatiles. The lack of ferric absorption features in the ChemCam reflectance spectra and the hexagonal crystalline structure associated with dark‐toned crystals points toward coarse “gray” hematite. In addition, the host rock adjacent to these features appears bleached and shows low‐FeOT content as well as depletion in Mn, indicating mobilization of these redox‐sensitive elements during diagenesis. Thus, groundwater fluid circulations could account for the remobilization of iron and recrystallization as crystalline hematite during diagenesis on Vera Rubin ridge.
Plain Language Summary
The NASA rover Curiosity investigated Vera Rubin ridge, a specific landform within the Gale crater on Mars. Scientific missions in orbit around the planet had previously discovered high concentrations of hematite on top of the ridge, an iron‐oxide mineral that commonly forms in water. However, it was not clear from orbit if such conditions existed at the time of the deposition of the sediments (around 3.5 billion years ago) or occurred much later during “diagenesis,” after deposition of the sediments and up to their transformation into rocks. On the surface, the rover did not observe significant differences between the ridge and the terrains encountered before it, except for small, dark geologic features that formed during diagenesis. Their analysis by the ChemCam instrument revealed that these features are composed of hematite—the same iron‐oxide mineral that was observed from orbit—and, interestingly, that the iron required to form them was removed from the adjacent rocks by groundwaters. As such, it appears that groundwaters played an important role in shaping Vera Rubin ridge, and thus partially obscure interpretations on the environmental conditions that existed on the surface of Mars at the time of sedimentation.
Key Points
Images from the Curiosity rover show the presence of dark‐toned diagenetic features at Vera Rubin ridge
ChemCam analyses of these features point toward an Fe‐oxide composition, consistent with crystalline hematite
Depletion of Fe and Mn in bleached halos around the Fe‐oxide features indicates mobility of Fe and Mn during the later stages of diagenesis
Restructuring of metals by chiral molecules represents an important route to inducing and controlling enantioselective surface chemistry. Tartaric acid adsorption on Cu(110) has served as a useful ...system for understanding many aspects of chiral molecule adsorption and ordering on a metal surface, and a number of chiral and achiral unit cells have been reported. Herein, we show that given the appropriate annealing treatment, singly deprotonated tartaric acid monolayers can restructure the Cu metal itself, and that the resulting structure is both highly ordered and chiral. Molecular resolution scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that singly deprotonated tartaric acid extracts Cu atoms from the Cu(110) surface layer and incorporates them into highly ordered, chiral adatom arrays capped by a continuous molecular layer. Further evidence for surface restructuring comes from images of atom-deep trenches formed in the Cu(110) surface during the process. These trenches also run in low symmetry directions and are themselves chiral. Simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images are consistent with the appearance of the added atom rows and etched trenches. The chiral imprinting results in a long-range, highly ordered ( 2 − 1 6 7 ) unit cell covering the whole surface as confirmed by low energy electron diffraction. Details of the restructuring mechanism were further investigated via time-lapse imaging at elevated temperature. This work reveals the stages of nanoscale surface restructuring and offers an interesting method for chiral modification of an achiral metal surface.
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