Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog
: Putative alkaline hydrothermal systems on Noachian Mars were potentially habitable environments for microorganisms. However, the types of reactions that could have fueled microbial life in such systems and the amount of energy available from them have not been quantitatively constrained. In this s...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11588/944681 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0064 |
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ftunivnapoliiris:oai:www.iris.unina.it:11588/944681 2024-09-09T19:47:25+00:00 Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D LaRowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D Larowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E 2023 https://hdl.handle.net/11588/944681 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0064 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000942332400001 volume:23 issue:4 firstpage:431 lastpage:445 numberofpages:15 journal:ASTROBIOLOGY https://hdl.handle.net/11588/944681 doi:10.1089/ast.2022.0064 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85152167658 Energy Eridania Hydrothermal vent Noachian Mar Strytan Water–rock modeling info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2023 ftunivnapoliiris https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0064 2024-06-17T15:19:20Z : Putative alkaline hydrothermal systems on Noachian Mars were potentially habitable environments for microorganisms. However, the types of reactions that could have fueled microbial life in such systems and the amount of energy available from them have not been quantitatively constrained. In this study, we use thermodynamic modeling to calculate which catabolic reactions could have supported ancient life in a saponite-precipitating hydrothermal vent system in the Eridania basin on Mars. To further evaluate what this could mean for microbial life, we evaluated the energy potential of an analog site in Iceland, the Strytan Hydrothermal Field. Results show that, of the 84 relevant redox reactions that were considered, the highest energy-yielding reactions in the Eridania hydrothermal system were dominated by methane formation. By contrast, Gibbs energy calculations carried out for Strytan indicate that the most energetically favorable reactions are CO2 and O2 reduction coupled to H2 oxidation. In particular, our calculations indicate that an ancient hydrothermal system within the Eridania basin could have been a habitable environment for methanogens using NH4+ as an electron acceptor. Differences in Gibbs energies between the two systems were largely determined by oxygen-its presence on Earth and absence on Mars. However, Strytan can serve as a useful analog for Eridania when studying methane-producing reactions that do not involve O2. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland IRIS Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Astrobiology 23 4 431 445 |
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IRIS Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II |
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ftunivnapoliiris |
language |
English |
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Energy Eridania Hydrothermal vent Noachian Mar Strytan Water–rock modeling |
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Energy Eridania Hydrothermal vent Noachian Mar Strytan Water–rock modeling Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D LaRowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
topic_facet |
Energy Eridania Hydrothermal vent Noachian Mar Strytan Water–rock modeling |
description |
: Putative alkaline hydrothermal systems on Noachian Mars were potentially habitable environments for microorganisms. However, the types of reactions that could have fueled microbial life in such systems and the amount of energy available from them have not been quantitatively constrained. In this study, we use thermodynamic modeling to calculate which catabolic reactions could have supported ancient life in a saponite-precipitating hydrothermal vent system in the Eridania basin on Mars. To further evaluate what this could mean for microbial life, we evaluated the energy potential of an analog site in Iceland, the Strytan Hydrothermal Field. Results show that, of the 84 relevant redox reactions that were considered, the highest energy-yielding reactions in the Eridania hydrothermal system were dominated by methane formation. By contrast, Gibbs energy calculations carried out for Strytan indicate that the most energetically favorable reactions are CO2 and O2 reduction coupled to H2 oxidation. In particular, our calculations indicate that an ancient hydrothermal system within the Eridania basin could have been a habitable environment for methanogens using NH4+ as an electron acceptor. Differences in Gibbs energies between the two systems were largely determined by oxygen-its presence on Earth and absence on Mars. However, Strytan can serve as a useful analog for Eridania when studying methane-producing reactions that do not involve O2. |
author2 |
Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D Larowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D LaRowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E |
author_facet |
Rucker, Holly R Ely, Tucker D LaRowe, Douglas E Giovannelli, Donato Price, Roy E |
author_sort |
Rucker, Holly R |
title |
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
title_short |
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
title_full |
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog |
title_sort |
quantifying the bioavailable energy in an ancient hydrothermal vent on mars and a modern earth-based analog |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11588/944681 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0064 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000942332400001 volume:23 issue:4 firstpage:431 lastpage:445 numberofpages:15 journal:ASTROBIOLOGY https://hdl.handle.net/11588/944681 doi:10.1089/ast.2022.0064 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85152167658 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2022.0064 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
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23 |
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4 |
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431 |
op_container_end_page |
445 |
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1809916877592330240 |