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Abundant phosphorus expected for possible life in Enceladus's ocean.
Hao, Jihua; Glein, Christopher R; Huang, Fang; Yee, Nathan; Catling, David C; Postberg, Frank; Hillier, Jon K; Hazen, Robert M.
Afiliación
  • Hao J; Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
  • Glein CR; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
  • Huang F; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
  • Yee N; Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.
  • Catling DC; Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238.
  • Postberg F; CSIRO Mineral Resources, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
  • Hillier JK; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854.
  • Hazen RM; Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 119(39): e2201388119, 2022 09 27.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36122219
Saturn's moon Enceladus has a potentially habitable subsurface water ocean that contains canonical building blocks of life (organic and inorganic carbon, ammonia, possibly hydrogen sulfide) and chemical energy (disequilibria for methanogenesis). However, its habitability could be strongly affected by the unknown availability of phosphorus (P). Here, we perform thermodynamic and kinetic modeling that simulates P geochemistry based on recent insights into the geochemistry of the ocean-seafloor system on Enceladus. We find that aqueous P should predominantly exist as orthophosphate (e.g., HPO42-), and total dissolved inorganic P could reach 10-7 to 10-2 mol/kg H2O, generally increasing with lower pH and higher dissolved CO2, but also depending upon dissolved ammonia and silica. Levels are much higher than <10-10 mol/kg H2O from previous estimates and close to or higher than ∼10-6 mol/kg H2O in modern Earth seawater. The high P concentration is primarily ascribed to a high (bi)carbonate concentration, which decreases the concentrations of multivalent cations via carbonate mineral formation, allowing phosphate to accumulate. Kinetic modeling of phosphate mineral dissolution suggests that geologically rapid release of P from seafloor weathering of a chondritic rocky core could supply millimoles of total dissolved P per kilogram of H2O within 105 y, much less than the likely age of Enceladus's ocean (108 to 109 y). These results provide further evidence of habitable ocean conditions and show that any oceanic life would not be inhibited by low P availability.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Fósforo / Sulfuro de Hidrógeno Idioma: En Revista: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: China

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Banco de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Fósforo / Sulfuro de Hidrógeno Idioma: En Revista: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: China