geochemistry Archives

Water droplets from crashing waves on early Earth -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Microlightning In Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life On Earth

by Keith CowingMarch 15, 2025March 15, 2025

Life may not have begun with a dramatic lightning strike into the ocean but from many smaller “microlightning” exchanges among water droplets from crashing waterfalls or breaking waves.

Sampled area and the grid of the analyzed area. (A) Optical image of the fossil filament. (B) Optical image of the filament after gold coating and LIMS campaign. (C) SEM image of laser ablation craters of the LIMS covering the fossil filament area, forming a grid of 17 × 25 craters. The direction of measurement is indicated with arrows. (D) SEM image of the area chosen for data analysis, forming a grid of 11 × 12 laser ablation craters. -- Frontiers

Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: Laser-powered Device Tested On Earth Could Help Us Detect Microbial Fossils On Mars

by Keith CowingMarch 10, 2025September 18, 2025

The first life on Earth formed four billion years ago, as microbes living in pools and seas: what if the same thing happened on Mars? If it did, how would […]

The Köröm thermal well green [KG] biofilm sample and its two isolated layers. Close-up photo (left) of a cross-section of the green [KG] biofilm sample. The sample shows an exterior (upper panel), greenish blue colour [KGA] and an interior (lower panel), pale green colour [KGB] layer. The red arrows mark carbonate precipitates. -- Eötvös Loránd University

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Adaptation to Extreme Conditions: Thermal Water Biofilm Studies Could Help Understand Ancient Ecosystems

by Keith CowingMarch 7, 2025September 18, 2025

Hungarian researchers have discovered unique bacterial communities in thermal waters that may help unravel the development of stromatolites, one of Earth’s oldest rock formations. These findings not only contribute to […]

Schematic showing a possible mechanism of hydrocarbon formation in subsurface rocks from H2O and carbon compounds based on geothermal energy. When H2O is adsorbed on a solid acid in natural rock, it forms a doubly bonded cyclic metastable structure by sharing a coordinate bond and a hydrogen bond. As the number of free electrons in the conduction band increases with increasing temperature, free electrons in the solid acid can move to H2O through the hydrogen bond. In return, surplus electrons in H2O can quickly move back to the solid acid through the coordinate bond to maintain neutral conditions. This electron exchange results in H2O dissociation and the formation of H and OH radicals. H radicals react with carbon compounds to form various unstable hydrocarbon species (CH, CH2) and CH3 radicals when CO2 is added and reduced to carbon or activated carbon. On the other hand, when organic hydrocarbons (biomass) are added and dissociated by H radicals, other products such as C3H7, C2H5, and CH3 radicals can be formed. Finally, H2 and diverse hydrocarbons can be produced through reactions among H radicals, hydrocarbon radicals, and unstable hydrocarbon species. OH radicals are likely consumed during the oxidation of rock constituents, such as Fe2+ and C. Unsaturated hydrocarbons can further react with H radicals or H2 to become saturated and are gradually converted to CH4 through H radical-induced C‒C bond breaking in rock, as observed in natural oil and gas. -- Science Reports via PubMed

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Production Of Abiotic Or Biogenic Hydrocarbons On Rock Particles In The Presence Of H2O And Carbon Compounds

by Keith CowingMarch 5, 2025March 5, 2025

Abiotic H2 and hydrocarbons are found in fluids discharged from ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal vents. Beneath the hydrothermal vents, abiotic H2 and hydrocarbons can be formed by serpentinization reactions and Fischer–Tropsch-type hydrocarbon-forming […]

An example of stromatolites investigated in the study found in the Cheshire Formation of the Belingwe greenstone belt, Zimbabwe. Photo credit: Professor Axel Hofmann

Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Impact Of Volcanic Activity On Early Marine Life

by Keith CowingMarch 3, 2025

Analysis of fossilised rocks known as stromatolites from more than two-and-a-half billion years ago has provided new insights into the conditions on Earth before the evolution of oxygen.

High-resolution seismic image of the subsurface beneath seafloor craters (A) Seismic line crossing the field of craters in a SW-NE direction as shown Fig. 2E. Circle insets show details of the reflective polarity of the main bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) identified at regional scale in the study area. BSR-1 is characterized by a reverse polarity with respect to the seafloor polarity whereas BSR-2 has the same polarity as the seafloor. Both are breached and collapsed by fluid escape pipes beneath the crater fields A and B. (B) Detail of subsurface beneath the craters showing a fluid escape pipe breaching the two BSRs. HAR: High Amplitude Reflector within the pipes. -- Science Reports via PubMed

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Giant Pit Craters On The Seafloor Above Magma-induced Hydrothermal Vent Complexes

by Keith CowingFebruary 3, 2025February 2, 2025

Massive injection of 13C depleted carbon to the ocean and atmosphere coincided with major environmental upheaval multiple times in the geological record. For several events, the source of carbon has […]

An image showing the molecular architecture of the specialised enzyme that allows microbes to consume toxic CO from the atmosphere. -- Credit Ashleigh Kropp and Dr David Gillett

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

How Microbes Help Detoxify Earth’s Atmosphere

by Keith CowingFebruary 3, 2025February 2, 2025

Melbourne researchers have discovered crucial new information about how microbes consume huge amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and help reduce levels of this deadly gas.

Spectrally red-sloped sites on Ceres identified by the deep neural network. Steep red-sloped spectra (organic-rich) are shown in/as red boxes. Yellow boxes indicate locations of moderately red-sloped pixels, which except for Vinotonus do not display the ∼3.4 micron organic feature. Occator red-sloped material is not marked because of its different nature (see text). A blue rectangle outlines an area overlapping Urvara and Yalode, where carbonate-rich materials are exposed. The exact locations of the identified reddish material are marked by small light-green boxes. The area bounded within the blue rectangle is referred to as the “Urvara-Yalode” region. See Figure 9 and Figure S9 in Supporting Information S1 for more details on these sites. Background image is the equirectangular global mosaic of Ceres created using ∼130 m/pix High Altitude Mapping Orbit color data (R-965 nm; G-749 nm; B-438 nm). -- AGU Advances

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Dwarf Planet Ceres: Building Blocks Of Life Delivered From Space

by Keith CowingJanuary 28, 2025January 28, 2025

Organic molecules are among the necessary inventory of life-friendly worlds. On Earth, the compounds of carbon, hydrogen and – in smaller quantities – other elements form the basic building blocks […]

The underwater volcano Borealis Mud Volcano was discovered in the summer of 2023. Last year, the researchers were back at the volcano. Credit Jørn Berger-Nyvoll / UiT

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Underwater Mud Volcanos Are A Haven For Marine Organisms

by Keith CowingJanuary 28, 2025January 28, 2025

The underwater volcano Borealis Mud Volcano is located in the Barents Sea and was first discovered by researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in 2023. The discovery received […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Titan Maintains Its Atmosphere

by Keith CowingJanuary 27, 2025January 27, 2025

Southwest Research Institute partnered with the Carnegie Institution for Science to perform laboratory experiments to better understand how Saturn’s moon Titan can maintain its unique nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

geochemistry

Microlightning In Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life On Earth

Tricorder Tech: Laser-powered Device Tested On Earth Could Help Us Detect Microbial Fossils On Mars

Adaptation to Extreme Conditions: Thermal Water Biofilm Studies Could Help Understand Ancient Ecosystems

Production Of Abiotic Or Biogenic Hydrocarbons On Rock Particles In The Presence Of H2O And Carbon Compounds

Impact Of Volcanic Activity On Early Marine Life

Giant Pit Craters On The Seafloor Above Magma-induced Hydrothermal Vent Complexes

How Microbes Help Detoxify Earth’s Atmosphere

Dwarf Planet Ceres: Building Blocks Of Life Delivered From Space

Underwater Mud Volcanos Are A Haven For Marine Organisms

How Titan Maintains Its Atmosphere

Early-career Graduate Students Host An Exclusive, NASA-funded Astrobiology Conference

Intimate Link Between Prebiotic Chemistry And Meteorites: Mechanisms Of Organic Molecule Formation

Microbial Mats Influence The Isotopic Composition And Provenance of Soil Organic Matter In The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Beyond The Prebiotic Soup: Solid Organic Films And Protocell-Like Formation in Prebiotic Discharge Experiments

From Searching For Extraterrestrial Biosignatures To Exploring The Origins Of Life: A Prebiotic Chemistry Perspective