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Tice MM, Hurowitz JA, Allwood AC, Jones MWM, Orenstein BJ, Davidoff S, Wright AP, Pedersen DA, Henneke J, Tosca NJ, Moore KR, Clark BC, McLennan SM, Flannery DT, Steele A, Brown AJ, Zorzano MP, Hickman-Lewis K, Liu Y, VanBommel SJ, Schmidt ME, Kizovski TV, Treiman AH, O’Neil L, Fairén AG, Shuster DL, Gupta S. Alteration history of Séítah formation rocks inferred by PIXL x-ray fluorescence, x-ray diffraction, and multispectral imaging on Mars. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabp9084. [PMID: 36417516 PMCID: PMC9683721 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Collocated crystal sizes and mineral identities are critical for interpreting textural relationships in rocks and testing geological hypotheses, but it has been previously impossible to unambiguously constrain these properties using in situ instruments on Mars rovers. Here, we demonstrate that diffracted and fluoresced x-rays detected by the PIXL instrument (an x-ray fluorescence microscope on the Perseverance rover) provide information about the presence or absence of coherent crystalline domains in various minerals. X-ray analysis and multispectral imaging of rocks from the Séítah formation on the floor of Jezero crater shows that they were emplaced as coarsely crystalline igneous phases. Olivine grains were then partially dissolved and filled by finely crystalline or amorphous secondary silicate, carbonate, sulfate, and chloride/oxychlorine minerals. These results support the hypothesis that Séítah formation rocks represent olivine cumulates altered by fluids far from chemical equilibrium at low water-rock ratios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael M. Tice
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Joel A. Hurowitz
- Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA
| | - Abigail C. Allwood
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - Michael W. M. Jones
- School of Chemistry and Physics and Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Brendan J. Orenstein
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Scott Davidoff
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - Austin P. Wright
- School of Computational Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - David A.K. Pedersen
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Space, Department of Measurement and Instrumentation, Kongbens Lyngby, 2800, Denmark
| | - Jesper Henneke
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Space, Department of Measurement and Instrumentation, Kongbens Lyngby, 2800, Denmark
| | - Nicholas J. Tosca
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
| | - Kelsey R. Moore
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | | | - Scott M. McLennan
- Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA
| | - David T. Flannery
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Andrew Steele
- Earth and Planetary Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA
| | | | - Maria-Paz Zorzano
- Centro de Astrobiologia, Instituto National de Tecnica Aerospacial, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Yang Liu
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - Scott J. VanBommel
- McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Mariek E. Schmidt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - Tanya V. Kizovski
- Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada
| | | | - Lauren O’Neil
- Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98052, USA
| | - Alberto G. Fairén
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - David L. Shuster
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Sanjeev Gupta
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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Higgins PM, Cockell CS. A bioenergetic model to predict habitability, biomass and biosignatures in astrobiology and extreme conditions. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200588. [PMID: 33081642 PMCID: PMC7653372 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to grow, reproduce and evolve life requires a supply of energy and nutrients. Astrobiology has the challenge of studying life on Earth in environments which are poorly characterized or extreme, usually both, and predicting the habitability of extraterrestrial environments. We have developed a general astrobiological model for assessing the energetic and nutrient availability of poorly characterized environments to predict their potential biological productivity. NutMEG (nutrients, maintenance, energy and growth) can be used to estimate how much biomass an environment could host, and how that life might affect the local chemistry. It requires only an overall catabolic reaction and some knowledge of the local environment to begin making estimations, with many more customizable parameters, such as microbial adaptation. In this study, the model was configured to replicate laboratory data on the growth of methanogens. It was used to predict the effect of temperature and energy/nutrient limitation on their microbial growth rates, total biomass levels, and total biosignature production in laboratory-like conditions to explore how it could be applied to astrobiological problems. As temperature rises from 280 to 330 K, NutMEG predicts exponential drops in final biomass ([Formula: see text]) and total methane production ([Formula: see text]) despite an increase in peak growth rates ([Formula: see text]) for a typical methanogen in ideal conditions. This is caused by the increasing cost of microbial maintenance diverting energy away from growth processes. Restricting energy and nutrients exacerbates this trend. With minimal assumptions NutMEG can reliably replicate microbial growth behaviour, but better understanding of the synthesis and maintenance costs life must overcome in different extremes is required to improve its results further. NutMEG can help us assess the theoretical habitability of extraterrestrial environments and predict potential biomass and biosignature production, for example on exoplanets using minimum input parameters to guide observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. M. Higgins
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - C. S. Cockell
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Napieralski SA, Buss HL, Brantley SL, Lee S, Xu H, Roden EE. Microbial chemolithotrophy mediates oxidative weathering of granitic bedrock. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:26394-26401. [PMID: 31843926 PMCID: PMC6936594 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1909970117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The flux of solutes from the chemical weathering of the continental crust supplies a steady supply of essential nutrients necessary for the maintenance of Earth's biosphere. Promotion of weathering by microorganisms is a well-documented phenomenon and is most often attributed to heterotrophic microbial metabolism for the purposes of nutrient acquisition. Here, we demonstrate the role of chemolithotrophic ferrous iron [Fe(II)]-oxidizing bacteria in biogeochemical weathering of subsurface Fe(II)-silicate minerals at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory in Puerto Rico. Under chemolithotrophic growth conditions, mineral-derived Fe(II) in the Rio Blanco Quartz Diorite served as the primary energy source for microbial growth. An enrichment in homologs to gene clusters involved in extracellular electron transfer was associated with dramatically accelerated rates of mineral oxidation and adenosine triphosphate generation relative to sterile diorite suspensions. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed the accumulation of nanoparticulate Fe-oxyhydroxides on mineral surfaces only under biotic conditions. Microbially oxidized quartz diorite showed greater susceptibility to proton-promoted dissolution, which has important implications for weathering reactions in situ. Collectively, our results suggest that chemolithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria are likely contributors in the transformation of rock to regolith.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie A. Napieralski
- Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Heather L. Buss
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1RJ Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Susan L. Brantley
- Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Seungyeol Lee
- Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Huifang Xu
- Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Eric E. Roden
- Department of Geoscience, NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706
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Grosch EG, Hazen RM. Microbes, Mineral Evolution, and the Rise of Microcontinents-Origin and Coevolution of Life with Early Earth. ASTROBIOLOGY 2015; 15:922-939. [PMID: 26430911 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2015.1302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Earth is the most mineralogically diverse planet in our solar system, the direct consequence of a coevolving geosphere and biosphere. We consider the possibility that a microbial biosphere originated and thrived in the early Hadean-Archean Earth subseafloor environment, with fundamental consequences for the complex evolution and habitability of our planet. In this hypothesis paper, we explore possible venues for the origin of life and the direct consequences of microbially mediated, low-temperature hydrothermal alteration of the early oceanic lithosphere. We hypothesize that subsurface fluid-rock-microbe interactions resulted in more efficient hydration of the early oceanic crust, which in turn promoted bulk melting to produce the first evolved fragments of felsic crust. These evolved magmas most likely included sialic or tonalitic sheets, felsic volcaniclastics, and minor rhyolitic intrusions emplaced in an Iceland-type extensional setting as the earliest microcontinents. With the further development of proto-tectonic processes, these buoyant felsic crustal fragments formed the nucleus of intra-oceanic tonalite-trondhjemite-granitoid (TTG) island arcs. Thus microbes, by facilitating extensive hydrothermal alteration of the earliest oceanic crust through bioalteration, promoted mineral diversification and may have been early architects of surface environments and microcontinents on young Earth. We explore how the possible onset of subseafloor fluid-rock-microbe interactions on early Earth accelerated metavolcanic clay mineral formation, crustal melting, and subsequent metamorphic mineral evolution. We also consider environmental factors supporting this earliest step in geosphere-biosphere coevolution and the implications for habitability and mineral evolution on other rocky planets, such as Mars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene G Grosch
- 1 Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen , Bergen, Norway
| | - Robert M Hazen
- 2 Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington , Washington, DC, USA
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Dominik M, Zarnecki JC. The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2011; 369:499-507. [PMID: 21220276 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Astronomers are now able to detect planets orbiting stars other than the Sun where life may exist, and living generations could see the signatures of extra-terrestrial life being detected. Should it turn out that we are not alone in the Universe, it will fundamentally affect how humanity understands itself--and we need to be prepared for the consequences. A Discussion Meeting held at the Royal Society in London, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, on 25-26 January 2010, addressed not only the scientific but also the societal agenda, with presentations covering a large diversity of topics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Dominik
- SUPA, University of St Andrews, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK.
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