Preservation of organic matter in the STONE 6 artificial meteorite experiment

• Published in: Icarus
• Main Authors: Parnell, John, Bowden, Stephen A., Muirhead, David, Blamey, Nigel, Westall, Frances, Demets, René, Verchovsky, Sasha, Brandstaetter, Franz, Brack, André
• Other Authors: School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Centre de biophysique moléculaire (CBM), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), European Space Agency (ESA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: TAGISH LAKE METEORITE; CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES; ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY; STRUCTURAL-CHARACTERIZATION; NORTHERN SCOTLAND; ORCADIAN BASIN; PARENT BODY; MARS; EARTH; LIFE; Tagish; Tagish Lake
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00614953; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2010.11.029

International audience The exposure of a carbonaceous siltstone sample to atmospheric entry, as part of the STONE 6 artificial meteorite experiment, has allowed a controlled investigation of the effect of heat shock during atmospheric entry on organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites and, potentially, sedimentary martian meteorites containing carbonaceous biomolecules. Thermal alteration is evident in an increase in structural order of the carbon (i.e. degree of graphitisation), preferential loss of thermally unstable compounds and substantial loss of extractable organic matter. There is a gradient of increasing alteration towards the outer, exposed margin of the rock, and also an increase in hydrocarbons that suggests outward migration following thermally-induced generation. The carbon has not been completely graphitised, and sufficient biomarker compounds survive to prove the biological origin of the organic matter. The experiment implies that meteorites of appropriate size could preserve evidence of biological activity on their parent body.