Cometary micrometeorites and input of prebiotic compounds
International audience The apparition of life on the early Earth was probably favored by inputs of extraterrestrial matter brought by carbonaceous chondrite-like objects or cometary material. Interplanetary dust collected nowadays on Earth is related to carbonaceous chondrites and to cometary materi...
Published in: | BIO Web of Conferences |
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Main Author: | |
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Conference Object |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2014
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-01078768 https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20140203003 |
Summary: | International audience The apparition of life on the early Earth was probably favored by inputs of extraterrestrial matter brought by carbonaceous chondrite-like objects or cometary material. Interplanetary dust collected nowadays on Earth is related to carbonaceous chondrites and to cometary material. They contain in particular at least a few percent of organic matter, organic compounds (amino-acids, PAHs,.), hydrous silicates, and could have largely contributed to the budget of prebiotic matter on Earth, about 4 Ga ago. A new population of cometary dust was recently discovered in the Concordia Antarctic micrometeorite collection. These "Ultracarbonaceous Antarctic Micrometeorites" (UCAMMs) are dominated by deuterium-rich and nitrogen-rich organic matter. They seem related to the "CHON" grains identified in the comet Halley in 1986. Although rare in the micrometeorites flux (<5% of the micrometeorites), UCAMMs could have significantly contributed to the input of prebiotic matter. Their content in soluble organic matter is currently under study. |
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