Elements from the group of rare earth metals are of great importance today, also in technical applications. The Bioinorganic Chemistry group at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) is conducting diverse […]
geochemistry
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Selected By NASA To Investigate Ocean Worlds And Their Organic Carbon Cycles
Ocean worlds such as Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and Saturn’s counterpart, Enceladus, could be among the most favorable places to discover life beyond Earth—and perhaps even a second, independent origin […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Microbiology and Geochemistry of The Shallow-water Hydrothermal Vents of the Gulf of Naples, Italy
Shallow-water hydrothermal vents are dynamic ecosystems that occur below 200 m in tectonically active regions of the planet.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report
Spectral Mixture Modeling with Laboratory Near-Infrared Data I: Insights into Compositional Analysis of Europa
Europa’s surface composition and physical characteristics are commonly constrained using spectral deconvolution through linear mixture (LM) modeling and radiative transfer-based (RT) intimate mixture modeling.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Conferences and Meetings, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Status Report
NASA/NExSS Extraterrestrial Photosynthesis Workshop
A NASA Exoplanets System Science (NExSS) WorkshopMay 15-17, 2026Heidel House, Green Lake, Wisconsin, USAPreceding AbSciCon 2026
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Sample Return, Status Report
Mineralogy, Geochemistry And Morphology Of Arctic Gossans On Axel Heiberg Island, NU, Canada: Spectroscopic Investigation And Implications For Mars
Gossans are formed through the oxidation of sulfide ore deposits by fluids, such as meteoric water or hydrothermal solutions, leading to locally acidic conditions.
![A: Schematic of the ultra-high vacuum chamber used for electron irradiation experiments of Europan ice analogs. B: Shift in the resonant frequency of the QCM during co-deposition of H2O and CO2 ice from dedicated gas dosers. We first condense CO2 [1] from a doser at a constant rate of (0.25 ± 0.01) Hz/s (zoomed in the inset). We then admit water vapor [2] through a second doser which increases the deposition rate to (4.8 ± 0.2) Hz/s. When the film approaches the desired thickness (2.8 µm, which corresponds to a frequency shift of ∼ 21, 000 Hz), we terminate H2O gas deposition first [3] and continue with CO2 condensation briefly to ensure the terminal CO2 rate did not drift significantly from the initial value (< 10%). The CO2 doser is shut off at [4]. This co-deposition scheme using multiple gas dosers with QCM gravimetry allows for producing mixed ices with precisely tailored composition. This film has CO2 intimately mixed with water ice at (2.5 ± 0.1)% (by number) concentration. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Laboratory-Investigation-Of-CO2-Driven.png?resize=1200%2C733&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Charon, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Laboratory Investigation Of CO2-Driven Enhancement Of Radiolytic H2O2 On Europa And Other Icy Moons
Observations of Europa’s leading hemisphere reveal elevated H2O2 in the warmer, low latitude chaos terrains compared to the colder, polar regions.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Source Of Hydrogen In Earth’s Building Blocks
Despite being pivotal to the habitability of our planet, the process by which Earth gained its present-day hydrogen budget is unclear.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
The Emergence of Chirality From Metabolism
Molecular chirality is critical to biochemical function, but it is unknown when chiral selectivity first became important in the evolutionary transition from geochemistry to biochemistry during the emergence of life.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Transient Marine Bottom Water Oxygenation On Continental Shelves By 2.65 Billion Years AgoNature Geoscience
A growing body of evidence suggests that molecular oxygen (O2) accumulated in some shallow marine environments beneath the effectively anoxic Archaean atmosphere 4.0 to 2.5 billion years (Ga) ago.