Hydrothermal Systems as Environments for the Emergence of Life

Shock, E.

doi:10.1002/9780470514986.ch3

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In addition to atmospheric models for prebiotic organosynthesis, considerable attention has been paid to hydrothermal systems as sites for thermochemical organosynthesis and emergence of life on early Earth and Mars (Shock, 1992(Shock, , 1996(Shock, , 1997. In this approach, the redox state and temperature of fluids in metastable equilibrium with mineral assemblages have been modelled to determine their contents of organic compounds.…”

Section: Prebiotic Synthesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Biosignatures

et al. 2007

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Life, as we know it, is based on carbon chemistry operating in an aqueous environment. Living organisms process chemicals, make copies of themselves, are autonomous and evolve in concert with the environment. All these characteristics are driven by, and operate through, carbon chemistry. The carbon chemistry of living systems is an exact branch of science and we have detailed knowledge of the basic metabolic and reproductive machinery of living organisms. We can recognise the residual biochemicals long after life has expired and otherwise lost most life-defining features. Carbon chemistry provides a tool for identifying extant and extinct life on Earth and, potentially, throughout the Universe. In recognizing that certain distinctive compounds isolable from living systems had related fossil derivatives, organic geochemists coined the term biological marker compound or biomarker (e.g. Eglinton et al. in Science 145:263-264, 1964) to describe them. In this terminology, biomarkers are metabolites or biochemicals by which we can identify particular kinds of living organisms as well as the molecular fossil derivatives by which we identify defunct counterparts. The terms biomarker and molecular biosignature are synonymous.A defining characteristic of terrestrial life is its metabolic versatility and adaptability and it is reasonable to expect that this is universal. Different physiologies operate for carbon acquisition, the garnering of energy and the storage and processing of information. As R.E. Summons ( ) R.E. Summons et al.well as having a range of metabolisms, organisms build biomass suited to specific physical environments, habitats and their ecological imperatives. This overall 'metabolic diversity' manifests itself in an enormous variety of accompanying product molecules (i.e. natural products). The whole field of organic chemistry grew from their study and now provides tools to link metabolism (i.e. physiology) to the occurrence of biomarkers specific to, and diagnostic for, particular kinds of metabolism.Another characteristic of living things, also likely to be pervasive, is that an enormous diversity of large molecules are built from a relatively small subset of universal precursors. These include the four bases of DNA, 20 amino acids of proteins and two kinds of lipid building blocks. Third, life exploits the specificity inherent in the spatial, that is, the three-dimensional qualities of organic chemicals (stereochemistry). These characteristics then lead to some readily identifiable and measurable generic attributes that would be diagnostic as biosignatures.Measurable attributes of molecular biosignatures include:• Enantiomeric excess • Diastereoisomeric preference • Structural isomer preference • Repeating constitutional sub-units or atomic ratios • Systematic isotopic ordering at molecular and intramolecular levels • Uneven distribution patterns or clusters (e.g. C-number, concentration, δ 13 C) of structurally related compounds.In this paper we address details of the chemical and biosynthetic basis ...

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Section: Prebiotic Synthesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Biosignatures

et al. 2007

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“…A further important aspect of impact crater lakes is the possibility of a thermal input from post-impact hydrothermal activity (e.g., Newsom et al 1996). This may have important astrobiological implications, as hydrothermal systems in general might have provided habitats or "cradles" for the origin and evolution of early life on Earth and possibly on Mars (e.g., Shock 1996;Farmer 2000;Kring 2000;Cockell and Lee 2002). Importantly, there is abundant evidence for impact-induced hydrothermal activity at Haughton ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-crater sedimentary deposits at the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic

Osinski¹,

Lee²

2005

Meteoritics &Amp; Planetary Science

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Abstract-Detailed field mapping has revealed the presence of a series of intra-crater sedimentary deposits within the interior of the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic. Coarse-grained, well-sorted, pale gray lithic sandstones (reworked impact melt breccias) unconformably overlie pristine impact melt breccias and attest to an episode of erosion, during which time significant quantities of impact melt breccias were removed. The reworked impact melt breccias are, in turn, unconformably overlain by paleolacustrine sediments of the Miocene Haughton Formation. Sediments of the Haughton Formation were clearly derived from pre-impact lower Paleozoic target rocks of the Allen Bay Formation, which form the crater rim in the northern, western, and southern regions of the Haughton structure. Collectively, these field relationships indicate that the Haughton Formation was deposited up to several million years after the formation of the Haughton crater and that they do not, therefore, represent an immediate, post-impact crater lake deposit. This is consistent with new isotopic dating of impactites from Haughton that indicate an Eocene age for the impact event (Sherlock et al. 2005). In addition, isolated deposits of post-Miocene intra-crater glacigenic and fluvioglacial sediments were found lying unconformably over remnants of the Haughton Formation, impact melt breccias, and other pre-impact target rock formations. These deposits provide clear evidence for glaciation at the Haughton crater. The wealth and complexity of geological and climatological information preserved as intra-crater deposits at Haughton suggests that craters on Mars with intra-crater sedimentary records might present us with similar opportunities, but also possibly significant challenges.

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“…primitive Earth have been proposed recently as a likely environment for the pre-biotic synthesis of organic molecules (Corliss et al 1979;Edomond et al 1982;Ferris 1992;Shock 1996;Russell and Hall 1997). Several experiments have already attempted to simulate submarine hydrothermal environments (Matsuno 1997;Imai et al 1999;Ogata et al 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

Pressure Effects on the Abiotic Polymerization of Glycine

Ohara

Kakegawa

Nakazawa

2007

Orig Life Evol Biosph

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Polymerization experiments were performed using dry glycine under various pressures of 5-100 MPa at 150 degrees C for 1-32 days. The series of experiments was carried out under the assumption that the pore space of deep sediments was adequate for dehydration polymerization of pre-biotic molecules. The products show various colors ranging from dark brown to light yellow, depending on the pressure. Visible and infrared spectroscopy reveal that the coloring is the result of formation of melanoidins at lower pressures. High-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses of the products show that: (1) glycine in all the experimental runs oligomerizes from 2-mer to 10-mer; (2) the yields are dependent on pressure up to 25 MPa and decrease slightly thereafter; and (3) polymerization progressed for the first 8 days, while the amounts of oligomers remained constant for longer-duration runs of up to 32 days. These results suggest that pressure inhibits the decomposition of amino acids and encourages polymerization in the absence of a catalyst. Our results further imply that abiotic polymerization could have occurred during diagenesis in deep sediments rather than in oceans.

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Hydrothermal Systems as Environments for the Emergence of Life

Cited by 45 publications

References 45 publications

Molecular Biosignatures

Molecular Biosignatures

Intra-crater sedimentary deposits at the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic

Pressure Effects on the Abiotic Polymerization of Glycine

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