Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p11a1197b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P11A-1197
Biology
[0305] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Aerosols And Particles, [5210] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Planetary Atmospheres, Clouds, And Hazes, [5215] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Origin Of Life
Scientific paper
On average, 10^8 g of solar system debris impinges on the Earth system each day. It is estimated that a few percent of this material is carbonaceous in nature, yet the fate of this organic material once it enters our atmosphere is unexplored. Much of this incoming material arrives in the form of micrometeoroids which are large enough to suffer drag heating and volatilize their organic material. Preliminary work shows that the organic material contained in particles with diameters on the order of 10-100 um is expected to be volatilized at altitudes of 100-120 km. Observed species include aromatic compounds such as alkybenzenes, phenol, benzonitrile, naphthalene, and styrene. Once liberated, these molecules may be transformed by processes at the boundary of space, or may survive to be mixed throughout the atmosphere. Sulfuric acid particles exist in Earth's upper atmosphere, and organic compounds often react strongly with this acid. We will report the results of laboratory and theoretical investigations of the interaction of aromatic compounds with surrogate matrices which mimic upper atmospheric particles. These studies will explore how exogenous organic compounds are altered after liberation at altitudes near 100 km and will determine if they survive to reach the surface of the Earth, where they may have provided the starting materials for the evolution of life on Earth or on other bodies.
Belle C. L.
Iraci Laura T.
Kress Monika E.
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