The preservation of fossil biomarkers during meteorite impact events: Experimental evidence from biomarker‐rich projectiles and target rocks

Parnell, John; Bowden, Stephen; Lindgren, P.; Burchell, M. J.; Milner, Daniel; Price, M. C.; Baldwin, E. C.; Crawford, Ian

doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01100.x

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 78 publications

(146 reference statements)

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“…For example, when targets were doped, pre-shot with anthracene, and then impacted by inert projectiles, anthracene was only observed in ejecta at intermediate and high angles and not at shallow angles (see Bowden et al, 2009). There is also evidence from recovery impact experiments (where fragments of the projectile are recovered from the target after an impact) that thermal processing occurs during impacts and can change the organic content of projectile fragments recovered after impact experiments at speeds of 1-5 km s -1 (e.g., see Bowden et al, 2008, andParnell et al, 2010).…”

Section: Observations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such it estimates the peak shock pressure near the projectile:target plane. In the interior of the projectile, the peak pressure will vary with location, typically falling to half the peak value in the median plane of the impactor and having a mean value approximately ¼ of the peak value in the trailing (rear) half of the impactor (see Parnell et al, 2010, for a discussion). Given the unusual nature of the projectile contents (a mixture of organic molecules), we approximated this as water ice in the calculations.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their results show that projectile fragments captured in the targets contained intact organic molecules that could be used as markers of previous biological activity. A more extensive program of impact studies with similar mudrock samples (this time used as both projectiles and targets) was reported by Parnell et al (2010), who found survival of a whole range of organic molecule biomarkers, although there were changes in the thermal maturity of the samples as a result of the impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

et al. 2014

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The survival of organic molecules in shock impact events has been investigated in the laboratory. A frozen mixture of anthracene and stearic acid, solvated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), was fired in a two-stage light gas gun at speeds of *2 and *4 km s -1 at targets that included water ice, water, and sand. This involved shock pressures in the range of 2-12 GPa. It was found that the projectile materials were present in elevated quantities in the targets after impact and in some cases in the crater ejecta as well. For DMSO impacting water at 1.9 km s -1 and 45°incidence, we quantify the surviving fraction after impact as 0.44 -0.05. This demonstrates successful transfer of organic compounds from projectile to target in high-speed impacts. The range of impact speeds used covers that involved in impacts of terrestrial meteorites on the Moon, as well as impacts in the outer Solar System on icy bodies such as Pluto. The results provide laboratory evidence that suggests that exogenous delivery of complex organic molecules from icy impactors is a viable source of such material on target bodies.

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Section: Observations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

et al. 2014

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“…There are some exceptions to this, such as work by Hernandez et al (2006), Kenkmann et al (2013) and Ebert et al (2014) which investigated the processes that occur between the target and projectile during hypervelocity impacts. Or, for example, by Bowden et al (2008) and Parnell et al (2010) who looked for survival of biomarkers in projectile fragments which survived impacts, and Burchell et al (2014a) who looked for transfer of volatiles to targets after impacts. Indeed, survival of diatom fossils has been shown in projectile fragments in laboratory experiments (Burchell et al, 2014b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survivability of copper projectiles during hypervelocity impacts in porous ice: A laboratory investigation of the survivability of projectiles impacting comets or other bodies

McDermott

Price

Cole

et al. 2016

Icarus

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a b s t r a c tDuring hypervelocity impact (>a few km s À1 ) the resulting cratering and/or disruption of the target body often outweighs interest on the outcome of the projectile material, with the majority of projectiles assumed to be vaporised. However, on Earth, fragments, often metallic, have been recovered from impact sites, meaning that metallic projectile fragments may survive a hypervelocity impact and still exist within the wall, floor and/or ejecta of the impact crater post-impact. The discovery of the remnant impactor composition within the craters of asteroids, planets and comets could provide further information regarding the impact history of a body. Accordingly, we study in the laboratory the survivability of 1 and 2 mm diameter copper projectiles fired onto ice at speeds between 1.00 and 7.05 km s À1 . The projectile was recovered intact at speeds up to 1.50 km s À1 , with no ductile deformation, but some surface pitting was observed. At 2.39 km s À1 , the projectile showed increasing ductile deformation and broke into two parts. Above velocities of 2.60 km s À1 increasing numbers of projectile fragments were identified post impact, with the mean size of the fragments decreasing with increasing impact velocity. The decrease in size also corresponds with an increase in the number of projectile fragments recovered, as with increasing shock pressure the projectile material is more intensely disrupted, producing smaller and more numerous fragments. The damage to the projectile is divided into four classes with increasing speed and shock pressure: (1) minimal damage, (2) ductile deformation, start of break up, (3) increasing fragmentation, and (4) complete fragmentation. The implications of such behaviour is considered for specific examples of impacts of metallic impactors onto Solar System bodies, including LCROSS impacting the Moon, iron meteorites onto Mars and NASA's ''Deep Impact" mission where a spacecraft impacted a comet.

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“…The potential for preservation of the earliest biotic and prebiotic material in terrestrial or martian meteorites is a key motivation for exploration of the Moon (Crawford et al, 2008;Burchell et al, 2014b). Recent experimental work has shown the ability of organic biomarkers to survive the impact shock conditions that would have ejected this material from the planetary surface (e.g., Parnell et al, 2010;Burchell et al, 2014a). The total amount of terrestrial material at the lunar surface today has been estimated as 1-2 ppm; however, the distribution of impacts will be non-uniform, and some areas of the surface may have received several times more or less than this amount (Armstrong, 2010).…”

Section: Sources Of Organic Matter To the Moonmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Moon as a Recorder of Organic Evolution in the Early Solar System: A Lunar Regolith Analog Study

et al. 2015

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The organic record of Earth older than *3.8 Ga has been effectively erased. Some insight is provided to us by meteorites as well as remote and direct observations of asteroids and comets left over from the formation of the Solar System. These primitive objects provide a record of early chemical evolution and a sample of material that has been delivered to Earth's surface throughout the past 4.5 billion years. Yet an effective chronicle of organic evolution on all Solar System objects, including that on planetary surfaces, is more difficult to find. Fortunately, early Earth would not have been the only recipient of organic matter-containing objects in the early Solar System. For example, a recently proposed model suggests the possibility that volatiles, including organic material, remain archived in buried paleoregolith deposits intercalated with lava flows on the Moon. Where asteroids and comets allow the study of processes before planet formation, the lunar record could extend that chronicle to early biological evolution on the planets. In this study, we use selected free and polymeric organic materials to assess the hypothesis that organic matter can survive the effects of heating in the lunar regolith by overlying lava flows. Results indicate that the presence of lunar regolith simulant appears to promote polymerization and, therefore, preservation of organic matter. Once polymerized, the mineral-hosted newly formed organic network is relatively protected from further thermal degradation. Our findings reveal the thermal conditions under which preservation of organic matter on the Moon is viable.

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The preservation of fossil biomarkers during meteorite impact events: Experimental evidence from biomarker‐rich projectiles and target rocks

Cited by 30 publications

References 78 publications

Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

Survival of Organic Materials in Hypervelocity Impacts of Ice on Sand, Ice, and Water in the Laboratory

Survivability of copper projectiles during hypervelocity impacts in porous ice: A laboratory investigation of the survivability of projectiles impacting comets or other bodies

The Moon as a Recorder of Organic Evolution in the Early Solar System: A Lunar Regolith Analog Study

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