Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans?
High-temperature submarine hydrothermal fields on Earth's mid-ocean ridges play host to exotic ecosystems with fauna previously unknown to science. Because these systems draw significant energy from chemo synthesis rather than photo synthesis, it has been postulated that the study of such syste...
Published in: | International Journal of Astrobiology |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2004
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1473550404002009 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1473550404002009 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s1473550404002009 2023-05-15T14:56:57+02:00 Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? German, Christopher R. 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1473550404002009 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1473550404002009 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms International Journal of Astrobiology volume 3, issue 2, page 81-95 ISSN 1473-5504 1475-3006 Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Space and Planetary Science Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2004 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s1473550404002009 2022-04-07T08:08:11Z High-temperature submarine hydrothermal fields on Earth's mid-ocean ridges play host to exotic ecosystems with fauna previously unknown to science. Because these systems draw significant energy from chemo synthesis rather than photo synthesis, it has been postulated that the study of such systems could have relevance to the origins of life and, hence, astrobiology. A major flaw to that argument, however, is that modern basalt-hosted submarine vents are too oxidizing and lack the abundant free hydrogen required to drive abiotic organic synthesis and/or the energy yielding reactions that the most primitive anaerobic thermophiles isolated from submarine vent-sites apparently require. Here, however, the progress over the past decade in which systematic search strategies have been used to identify previously overlooked venting on the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ultra-slow spreading Arctic and SW Indian Ridges is described. Preliminary identification of fault-controlled venting in a number of these sites has led to the discovery of at least two high-temperature hydrothermal fields hosted in ultramafic rocks which emit complex organic molecules in their greater than 360 °C vent-fluids. Whether these concentrations represent de novo organic synthesis within the hydrothermal cell remains open to debate but it is probable that many more such sites exist throughout the Atlantic, Arctic and SW Indian Oceans. One particularly intriguing example is the Gakkel Ridge, which crosses the floor of the Arctic Ocean. On-going collaborations between oceanographers and astrobiologists are actively seeking to develop a new class of free-swimming autonomous underwater vehicle, equipped with appropriate chemical sensors, to conduct long-range missions that will seek out, locate and investigate new sites of hydrothermal venting at the bottom of this, and other, ice-covered oceans. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) Indian Mid-Atlantic Ridge International Journal of Astrobiology 3 2 81 95 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Space and Planetary Science Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Space and Planetary Science Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics German, Christopher R. Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
topic_facet |
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) Space and Planetary Science Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
High-temperature submarine hydrothermal fields on Earth's mid-ocean ridges play host to exotic ecosystems with fauna previously unknown to science. Because these systems draw significant energy from chemo synthesis rather than photo synthesis, it has been postulated that the study of such systems could have relevance to the origins of life and, hence, astrobiology. A major flaw to that argument, however, is that modern basalt-hosted submarine vents are too oxidizing and lack the abundant free hydrogen required to drive abiotic organic synthesis and/or the energy yielding reactions that the most primitive anaerobic thermophiles isolated from submarine vent-sites apparently require. Here, however, the progress over the past decade in which systematic search strategies have been used to identify previously overlooked venting on the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ultra-slow spreading Arctic and SW Indian Ridges is described. Preliminary identification of fault-controlled venting in a number of these sites has led to the discovery of at least two high-temperature hydrothermal fields hosted in ultramafic rocks which emit complex organic molecules in their greater than 360 °C vent-fluids. Whether these concentrations represent de novo organic synthesis within the hydrothermal cell remains open to debate but it is probable that many more such sites exist throughout the Atlantic, Arctic and SW Indian Oceans. One particularly intriguing example is the Gakkel Ridge, which crosses the floor of the Arctic Ocean. On-going collaborations between oceanographers and astrobiologists are actively seeking to develop a new class of free-swimming autonomous underwater vehicle, equipped with appropriate chemical sensors, to conduct long-range missions that will seek out, locate and investigate new sites of hydrothermal venting at the bottom of this, and other, ice-covered oceans. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
German, Christopher R. |
author_facet |
German, Christopher R. |
author_sort |
German, Christopher R. |
title |
Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
title_short |
Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
title_full |
Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
title_fullStr |
Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
title_sort |
hydrothermal exploration and astrobiology: oases for life in distant oceans? |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1473550404002009 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1473550404002009 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge Indian Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Gakkel Ridge Indian Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic |
op_source |
International Journal of Astrobiology volume 3, issue 2, page 81-95 ISSN 1473-5504 1475-3006 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1473550404002009 |
container_title |
International Journal of Astrobiology |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
81 |
op_container_end_page |
95 |
_version_ |
1766329015112564736 |