Biology – Quantitative Biology – Genomics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p53b1457h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P53B-1457
Biology
Quantitative Biology
Genomics
0456 Life In Extreme Environments, 0465 Microbiology: Ecology, Physiology And Genomics (4840), 3617 Alteration And Weathering Processes (1039), 5220 Hydrothermal Systems And Weathering On Other Planets, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Sulfate-rich bedrock has been discovered in many locations on Mars and has been studied by both orbiting spacecraft and landers. It appears that in most cases these minerals are produced by acid-sulfate weathering of igneous rocks, which may have been a widespread process for the first billion years of Mars' history. The origin of life on Earth may have occurred in iron-sulfur hydrothermal settings and it is conceivable that early Mars had similar environmental conditions. An excellent terrestrial analog for acid- sulfate weathering of Mars-like basalts exists at Cerro Negro (CN), Nicaragua, where sulfur-bearing gases interact with recently erupted basaltic ash in numerous fumaroles. To date, we have made two expeditions to CN to assess the chemical, mineralogical, and biological conditions. At the fumaroles pH ranges from <1 to 5 and temperatures range from 40 to 400° C. Basalts with a chemical composition very similar to those on Mars are being chemically altered in the solfatara setting. In a few years, freshly erupted basalt can be converted into predominately Ca-, Mg-, and Fe-sulfates, Fe-hydroxides (including jarosite), clays, and free silica. Altered rocks have up to 30 wt% SO3 equivalent, which is similar to the Meridiani Planum bedrocks and inferred in other sulfate-bearing bedrock on Mars. Moreover, heavily weathered rocks have silica contents up to 80 wt%, similar to silica-rich soils at Gusev Crater that possibly formed in hydrothermal environments. Samples were collected for biological analysis including enrichment and isolation of novel thermophiles as well as molecular characterization of thermophile diversity. The low water and nutrient levels found in solfatara environments lead to less biomass when compared to hot springs with similar geochemical conditions. Nonetheless, microbes are thriving in these hot, acidic vent environments. At Cerro Negro solfatara, we are characterizing the metabolic and phylogenetic diversity of resident microbial communities in order to yield clues to the habitability of similar environments on early Mars.
Hynek Brian Michael
McCollom Thomas M.
Rogers Karyn L.
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