lithosphere Archives - Astrobiology

Towering black smoker chimneys belch superheated water rich in chemicals and minerals. Bacteria transform this toxic soup into energy, kickstarting an astonishing community of life. Image courtesy of ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute

Away Teams & Field Reports

Expedition Led By MBARI Researchers Reveals A Remarkable, And Rare, Form Of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

by Keith CowingJuly 10, 2026July 10, 2026

[MBARI] An international team of researchers, led by MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef and Schmidt Ocean Institute, has discovered two remarkable fields of hydrothermal vents in the Doldrums Megatransform and […]

Paleopoles based on averages of sample Virtual Geomagnetic Poles (VGPs) rather than site VGPs.

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Press Release

Study Shows Movement Of Tectonic Plates 3.5 Billion Years Ago

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2026March 24, 2026

The history of the Earth is written on the great tablets of tectonic plates.

Io - NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Analysis Of Io’s tidal Response As A Function Of The Properties Of The Partially Molten Layer

by Keith CowingMarch 22, 2026March 22, 2026

Io’s internal heat is generated by Jupiter-driven tidal dissipation and Laplace resonance. This energy partially melts the mantle, but the melt fraction, depth, and spatial distribution of dissipation remain poorly […]

Snapshots of mantle temperature and melt fraction (top row) and basalt fraction (bottom row) at 6.5 Gyr for each interior model of K2-141 b. All models show a shallow magma ocean on the dayside (left hemisphere) and a solid nightside (right hemisphere). Models without plastic yielding (MixCC, MBasal, MixIntr), exhibit upwellings at the substellar and antistellar points, with downwellings forming at the day-night terminators. MPlastic, which includes plastic yielding (lithospheric weakening), displays a more asymmetric pattern, with downwellings forming on the nightside and upwellings rising preferentially on the dayside. Videos for these model runs are available online and on Zenodo (Meier 2025). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Mantle Convection And Nightside Volcanism On Lava World K2-141 b

by Keith CowingMarch 8, 2026March 8, 2026

Ultra-short period lava worlds offer a unique window into the coupled evolution of planetary interior and atmospheres under extreme irradiation.

This artist’s concept of the large Quetzalpetlatl Corona located in Venus’ southern hemisphere depicts active volcanism and a subduction zone, where the foreground crust plunges into the planet’s interior. A new study suggests coronae are the locations of several types of tectonic activity. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Peter Rubin

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Venus

Lava World Recon: Possible Tectonic Activity On Venus

by Keith CowingMay 16, 2025May 16, 2025

Using archival data from the mission, launched in 1989, researchers have uncovered new evidence that tectonic activity may be deforming the planet’s surface.

South Pole of Mars -- NASA

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Ammonia or Methanol Would Enable Subsurface Liquid Water at the Martian South Pole

by Keith CowingApril 7, 2025April 7, 2025

The notion of liquid water beneath the ice layer at the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) of Mars is an interesting possibility given the implications for astrobiology and possible human […]

Nanoscale molecular information of the CCM. (A) TOF-SIMS mapping showing association of C-H (purple) and CN (blue) in CCM -- PNAS

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Unraveling Abiotic Organic Synthesis Pathways In The Mafic Crust Of Mid-ocean Ridges

by Keith CowingOctober 14, 2024October 14, 2024

The aqueous alteration of the oceanic lithosphere provides significant energy that impacts the synthesis and diversity of organic compounds, which are crucial for the deep carbon cycle and may have […]

Distributions in viscosity, density and thickness for 5-layer profiles, meeting both geophysical and thermal constraints, without (upper row) and with (lower row) BML. The grey zones picture the exploration priors taken for each of the parameters after filtering with mass and moment of inertia. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Status Report

Coupled Geophysical And Thermal Constraints Link Between Mars Basal Molten Layer And The Planet Viscosity Profile

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2024March 12, 2024

Computing the tidal deformations of Mars, we explored various Mars internal structures by examining profiles that include or exclude a basal molten layer within the mantle and a solid inner […]

Two proposed mechanisms for H2O2 generation at quartz–water interfaces. (A) Stress-induced cleavage of Si–O bonds. Applied force is represented by a linear falling potential (dashed line), which is added to the Morse potential of the unstretched Si–O bond (dotted line), thus resulting in a force-deformed Morse potential (solid line). The new dissociation energy D′ is smaller than D in the case of a stretching force. Modified after Kauzmann et al. (42). The probability of generation of surface-bound radicals in quartz therefore increases during mechanical processes. (B) Contact of water on freshly fractured surface of abraded quartz. Modified after Schoonen et al. (32). (C) Generation of H2O2 and O2 in the reaction between H2O and oxygen radical (≡SiO•). (D) Generation of rocky H2O2 and O2 in the reaction between H2O and peroxy radical (≡SiOO•). Surface-bound radicals are formed through homolysis of Si–O bonds, including ≡SiO•, ≡SiOO•, and E′ center (≡Si•), while surface charges (≡Si+ and ≡SiO–) for heterolysis. Silanol groups (≡SiOH) are end products on quartz surface after hydroxylation. -- Guangzhou Institute

Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

A Novel Origin Of Abiotic Oxidants On Early Earth: Minerals

by Keith CowingMarch 23, 2023March 23, 2023

Molecular oxygen (O2) is essential for respiration on today’s Earth, but the early atmosphere was almost devoid of oxygen until the Great Oxidation Event. How then did Earth’s atmosphere become […]