Lightning strikes as a major facilitator of prebiotic phosphorus reduction on early Earth

Hess, Benjamin L.; Piazolo, Sandra; Harvey, Jason

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21849-2

Cited by 58 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The estimated phosphite deposition flux from WACCM‐P is then 1 × 10 −9 g m −2 yr −1 , with a maximum of 5 × 10 −9 g m −2 yr −1 . This global mean flux is close to the geometric mean of the recent estimate of phosphite production from lightning strikes of between 100–10,000 kg annually (Hess et al., 2021). Moreover, the phosphate within MSPs, which are mostly less than 100 nm in radius (Bardeen et al., 2008; Brooke et al., 2017), will be even more prone to lightning‐initiated reduction, or aqueous phase chemistry during their residence in the highly acidic Junge layer (Saunders et al., 2012), than the phosphate buried within much larger meteorites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Phosphorus Chemistry in the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

2021

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Phosphorus is a key element in biomolecules (e.g., RNA, DNA, phospholipids, and ATP/ADP) and therefore plays important roles in replication, information transfer, and metabolism (Maciá, 2005). Although the dominant form of inorganic P at the Earth's surface is orthophosphate (PO 4 3− , oxidation state +5), phosphate salts have low water solubility and reactivity, which severely limits their bio-availability. Therefore, a major question concerning the development of early life on Earth was the availability of prebiotic P in its reduced forms, phosphides (P − , oxidation state −1), phosphites (HPO 3 2− , oxidation state +3) or hypophosphites (H 2 PO 2 − , oxidation state +3), which are more biologically active than the fully oxidized phosphate. Phosphorus is thought to have limited ocean primary productivity over geological timescales, and the P cycle may have constrained the slow oxygenation of the Earth's surface during the first 3.5 billion years (Lyons et al., 2014). In support of this hypothesis of P bio-limitation, Reinhard et al. ( 2017) have shown recently that, until around 800 million years ago, the P in shallow marine environments was significantly lower than the Redfield ratio (Redfield, 1958).Because phosphorus is a siderophile element, the P that was present when the Earth formed should be sequestered in the molten core; hence, extraterrestrial P was probably the major source of prebiotic phosphorus at the planet's surface (Pasek, 2008). Previous studies have focused on the direct delivery of P to the surface in meteorites, where metal phosphides (in particular the mineral schreibersite, (FeNi) 3 P) were then processed into bioavailable forms of P through aqueous-phase chemistry (Gibard et al., 2019;Pasek, 2008). A very recent study has shown that cloud-ground lightning strikes reduce phosphate in meteorites, and estimated that lightning strikes on early Earth might have formed 10-1,000 kg of phosphide and 100-10,000 kg of phosphite and hypophosphite annually (Hess et al., 2021).In the present paper, we consider the ablation of P from interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) entering the Earth's atmosphere and its subsequent atmospheric chemistry. This potential source of reduced P does not appear to have been investigated previously. Most IDPs have a mass ranging from 10 −3 to 100 μg (radius 2-200 μm), and a substantial fraction of the IDP mass ablates due to aerobraking at heights between 70 and 110 km (Carrillo-Sánchez, Gómez-Martín, et al., 2020). We recently performed a laboratory study

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Phosphorus Chemistry in the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

2021

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“…[#29 -Lightning minerals]: A small suite of 9 highly-reduced minerals, including silicon metal, graphite, iron, moissanite, and schreibersite, is associated with the production of fulgurites by lightning strikes (Essene and Fisher 1986;Grapes 2006;Pasek et al 2012;Hess et al 2021). Pasek and Block (2009) suggested that lightning-induced This is the peer-reviewed, final accepted version for American Mineralogist, published by the Mineralogical Society of America.…”

Section: Systematic Survey Of Paragenetic Modesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DOI: https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8099. http://www.minsocam.org/ reduction of phosphate minerals might have provided a source of biologically useful P compounds prior to life's origins -an idea amplified by Hess et al (2021).…”

Section: Systematic Survey Of Paragenetic Modesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the paragenetic modes of minerals: A mineral evolution perspective

Hazen

Morrison

2022

American Mineralogist

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A systematic survey of 57 different paragenetic modes distributed among 5659 mineral species reveals patterns in the diversity and distribution of minerals related to their evolving formational environments. The earliest minerals in stellar, nebular, asteroid, and primitive Earth contexts were dominated by relatively abundant chemical elements, notably H, C, O, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Fe. Significant mineral diversification subsequently occurred via two main processes, first through gradual selection and concentration of rarer elements by fluid-rock interactions (for example, in hydrothermal metal deposits, complex granite pegmatites, and agpaitic rocks), and then through nearsurface biologically-mediated oxidation and weathering.We find that 3349 mineral species (59.2 %) are known from only one paragenetic context, whereas another 1372 species (24.2 %) are associated with two paragenetic modes. Among the most genetically varied minerals are pyrite, albite, hornblende, corundum, magnetite, calcite, hematite, rutile, and baryte, each with 15 or more known modes of formation. Among the most common paragenetic modes of minerals are near-surface This is the peer-reviewed, final accepted version for American Mineralogist, published by the Mineralogical Society of America.The published version is subject to change. Cite as Authors (Year) Title. American Mineralogist, in press.

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“…1-10% of the early Earth crust was composed by phosphide minerals. 14 Very recently, Hess et al 15 proposed a new route to provide available phosphorus on the early Earth through lighting strikes as a major facilitator of prebiotic phosphorus reduction. Indeed, lighting strike hitting clay-rich soil of the early crust will form highly reduced glasses called fulgurites, in which schreibersite is synthesized in situ by the high energy provided during the electric discharge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ab-Initio Computational Study on Fe2NiP Schreibersite: Bulk and Surface Characterization

Pantaleone

Corno²,

Rimola³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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<p>Phosphorous is ubiquitous in planet Earth and plays a fundamental role in all living systems. Finding a reasonable prebiotic source of phosphorous is not trivial, as common sources where it is present nowadays are in the form of phosphate minerals, which are rather insoluble and non-reactive materials, and, accordingly, unavailable for being readily incorporated in living organisms. A possible source of phosphorous is from the exogenous meteoritic bombardment and, in particular, in iron/nickel phosphites. These materials, by simple interaction with water, produce oxygenated phosphorous compounds, which can easily react with organic molecules, thus forming C-O-P bonds. In the present work, periodic ab-initio simulations at PBE level (inclusive of dispersive interactions) have been carried out on metallic Fe<sub>2</sub>NiP-schreibersite, as a relative abundant component of metallic meteorites, in order to characterize structural, energetics and vibrational properties of both bulk and surfaces of this material. The aim is to study the relative stability among different surfaces, to characterize both the nanocrystal morphology and the reactivity towards water molecules. </p>

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Lightning strikes as a major facilitator of prebiotic phosphorus reduction on early Earth

Cited by 58 publications

References 57 publications

Phosphorus Chemistry in the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Phosphorus Chemistry in the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

On the paragenetic modes of minerals: A mineral evolution perspective

Ab-Initio Computational Study on Fe2NiP Schreibersite: Bulk and Surface Characterization

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