Carbonaceous chondrites: tracers of the prebiotic chemical evolution of the Solar System

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja C. Andersen ◽  
Henning Haack
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Subsequent Evolution ◽  
Prebiotic Chemical ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
Sugar Derivatives ◽  
Source Of Information

The astrobiological relevance of carbonaceous chondrites is reviewed. It is argued that the primitive meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites provide a unique source of information about the materials and conditions in the Solar System during the earliest phases of its history, and its subsequent evolution. Presolar dust grains extracted from the carbonaceous chondrites provide direct information on the previous generations of stars that provided the materials present for planet formation. The organic material found in carbonaceous chondrites consist of amino acids, carboxylic acids and sugar derivatives. Part of the amino acids found show L-enantiomeric excesses, which indicates that homochirality on Earth could be a direct result of input from meteoritic material to the early Earth.

scholarly journals Synthesis and Preservation of Organic Molecules with Homochiral Excess by Adsorption on Carbon in Carbonaceous Chondrites

2021 ◽  
pp. 46-53
Author(s):  
V. M. Zhmakin
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Amino Acids ◽  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Organic Synthesis ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Abiogenic Synthesis ◽  
Extraterrestrial Origin

The nature of carbon, initial components, molecules of homochiral abiogenic synthesis and their preservation from decay and racemization for more than 4.5 billion years in carbonaceous chondrites has not been established. In the oxygen-free atmospheres of the nebula and early Earth, hydrogen and hydrogen-containing gases were oxidized with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide to form carbon and water, as well as the intermediates of these reactions, formaldehyde and methane acid. Together with ammonia, they were the initial components of organic synthesis. According to the Rebinder rule, carbon adsorbs hydrogen well, including in organic molecules. In this connection, experiments with the assumed conditions of the early Earth were carried out by adsorption on carbon to obtain R-(rectus, Latin) ribose from formaldehyde, and S-(sinister) serine from formaldehyde, methane acid and ammonia. For other S-amino acids, a stereo chemical justification of their formation based on S-serine is given. For carbonaceous chondrites, the results of the above experiments were confirmed by the correlation of an increase in homochiral excess with an increase in the amount of hydrogen in aldonic acids and lactic acid with a coefficient of 0.94 and 0.85 in amino acids. The justification of the homochiral process will reduce the costs of searching for life on planets, for scientific research, for the production of medicines, perfumes, food, and so on. Doubts about the extraterrestrial origin of homochiral enantiomers in carbonaceous chondrites arise most often due to a lack of understanding of the reasons for their appearance. This work will significantly reduce such skepticism.

scholarly journals Extraterrestrial hexamethylenetetramine in meteorites—a precursor of prebiotic chemistry in the inner solar system

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Oba ◽  
Yoshinori Takano ◽  
Hiroshi Naraoka ◽  
Yoshihiro Furukawa ◽  
Daniel P. Glavin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Astrophysical Interest ◽  
Extraction Processes ◽  
Extraterrestrial Materials

AbstractDespite extensive studies on the formation of organic molecules in various extraterrestrial environments, it still remains under debate when, where, and how such molecules were abiotically formed. A key molecule to solve the problem, hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) has not been confirmed in extraterrestrial materials despite extensive laboratory experimental evidence that it can be produced in interstellar or cometary environments. Here we report the first detection of HMT and functionalized HMT species in the carbonaceous chondrites Murchison, Murray, and Tagish Lake. While the part-per-billion level concentration of HMT in Murchison and Tagish Lake is comparable to other related soluble organic molecules like amino acids, these compounds may have eluded detection in previous studies due to the loss of HMT during the extraction processes. HMT, which can yield important molecules for prebiotic chemistry such as formaldehyde and ammonia upon degradation, is a likely precursor of meteoritic organic compounds of astrochemical and astrophysical interest.

scholarly journals Carbonaceous Material in Extra-terrestrial Matter

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29A) ◽  
pp. 257-260
Author(s):  
Zita Martins
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Impact Shock

AbstractComets, asteroids, meteorites, micrometeorites, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), and ultra-carbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites (UCAMMs) may contain carbonaceous material, which was exogenously delivered to the early Earth. Carbonaceous chondrites have an enormous variety of extra-terrestrial compounds, including all the key compounds important in terrestrial biochemistry. Comets contain several carbon-rich species and, in addition, the hypervelocity impact-shock of a comet can produce several α-amino acids. The analysis of the carbonaceous content of extra-terrestrial matter provides a window into the resources delivered to the early Earth, which may have been used by the first living organisms.

scholarly journals Prebiotic materials from on and off the early Earth

2006 ◽  
Vol 361 (1474) ◽  
pp. 1689-1702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Oxidation State ◽  
Hydrothermal Vents ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Carbon Compounds ◽  
Compare And Contrast

One of the greatest puzzles of all time is how did life arise? It has been universally presumed that life arose in a soup rich in carbon compounds, but from where did these organic molecules come? In this article, I will review proposed terrestrial sources of prebiotic organic molecules, such as Miller–Urey synthesis (including how they would depend on the oxidation state of the atmosphere) and hydrothermal vents and also input from space. While the former is perhaps better known and more commonly taught in school, we now know that comet and asteroid dust deliver tons of organics to the Earth every day, therefore this flux of reduced carbon from space probably also played a role in making the Earth habitable. We will compare and contrast the types and abundances of organics from on and off the Earth given standard assumptions. Perhaps each process provided specific compounds (amino acids, sugars, amphiphiles) that were directly related to the origin or early evolution of life. In any case, whether planetary, nebular or interstellar, we will consider how one might attempt to distinguish between abiotic organic molecules from actual signs of life as part of a robotic search for life in the Solar System.

Hydrogen Cyanide Polymers from the Impact of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Clifford N. Matthews ◽  
Rose A. Pesce-Rodriguez ◽  
Shirley A. Liebman
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Hydrogen Cyanide ◽  
Nitrogen Heterocycles ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Heterogeneous Solids ◽  
The Many ◽  
Comet Halley ◽  
The Impact ◽  
By Products

AbstractHydrogen cyanide polymers – heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black – may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orangebrown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia, the color observed depending on the concentration of HCN involved. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. Black polymers and multimers with conjugated ladder structures derived from HCN could also be formed and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, observed after pyrolysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter might therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized directly from HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.

Effects of Amino Acids on Phosphate Adsorption Onto Iron (Oxy)hydroxide Minerals under Early Earth Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Flores ◽  
Eduardo Martinez ◽  
Laura E. Rodriguez ◽  
Jessica M. Weber ◽  
Arezoo Khodayari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Phosphate Adsorption ◽  
Early Earth

scholarly journals Synthesis of Organic Matter in Aqueous Environments Simulating Small Bodies in the Solar System and the Effects of Minerals on Amino Acid Formation

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Walaa Elmasry ◽  
Yoko Kebukawa ◽  
Kensei Kobayashi
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Acid Formation ◽  
Gel Chromatography ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Enhanced Production ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Heating Duration

The extraterrestrial delivery of organics to primitive Earth has been supported by many laboratory and space experiments. Minerals played an important role in the evolution of meteoritic organic matter. In this study, we simulated aqueous alteration in small bodies by using a solution mixture of H2CO and NH3 in the presence of water at 150 °C under different heating durations, which produced amino acids after acid hydrolysis. Moreover, minerals were added to the previous mixture to examine their catalyzing/inhibiting impact on amino acid formation. Without minerals, glycine was the dominant amino acid obtained at 1 d of the heating experiment, while alanine and β-alanine increased significantly and became dominant after 3 to 7 d. Minerals enhanced the yield of amino acids at short heating duration (1 d); however, they induced their decomposition at longer heating duration (7 d). Additionally, montmorillonite enhanced amino acid production at 1 d, while olivine and serpentine enhanced production at 3 d. Molecular weight distribution in the whole of the products obtained by gel chromatography showed that minerals enhanced both decomposition and combination of molecules. Our results indicate that minerals affected the formation of amino acids in aqueous environments in small Solar System bodies and that the amino acids could have different response behaviors according to different minerals.

scholarly journals A unique basaltic micrometeorite expands the inventory of solar system planetary crusts

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (17) ◽  
pp. 6904-6909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Gounelle ◽  
Marc Chaussidon ◽  
Alessandro Morbidelli ◽  
Jean-Alix Barrat ◽  
Cécile Engrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dust Transport ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Transport Dynamics ◽  
Sample Return Mission

Micrometeorites with diameter ≈100–200 μm dominate the flux of extraterrestrial matter on Earth. The vast majority of micrometeorites are chemically, mineralogically, and isotopically related to carbonaceous chondrites, which amount to only 2.5% of meteorite falls. Here, we report the discovery of the first basaltic micrometeorite (MM40). This micrometeorite is unlike any other basalt known in the solar system as revealed by isotopic data, mineral chemistry, and trace element abundances. The discovery of a new basaltic asteroidal surface expands the solar system inventory of planetary crusts and underlines the importance of micrometeorites for sampling the asteroids' surfaces in a way complementary to meteorites, mainly because they do not suffer dynamical biases as meteorites do. The parent asteroid of MM40 has undergone extensive metamorphism, which ended no earlier than 7.9 Myr after solar system formation. Numerical simulations of dust transport dynamics suggest that MM40 might originate from one of the recently discovered basaltic asteroids that are not members of the Vesta family. The ability to retrieve such a wealth of information from this tiny (a few micrograms) sample is auspicious some years before the launch of a Mars sample return mission.

scholarly journals Isotopic evidence for primordial molecular cloud material in metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 2011-2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elishevah M. M. E. Van Kooten ◽  
Daniel Wielandt ◽  
Martin Schiller ◽  
Kazuhide Nagashima ◽  
Aurélien Thomen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Thermal Processing ◽  
Molecular Cloud ◽  
Decay Product ◽  
Isotopic Signature ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Precursor Material ◽  
System Composition ◽  
Cloud Material

The short-lived 26Al radionuclide is thought to have been admixed into the initially 26Al-poor protosolar molecular cloud before or contemporaneously with its collapse. Bulk inner Solar System reservoirs record positively correlated variability in mass-independent 54Cr and 26Mg*, the decay product of 26Al. This correlation is interpreted as reflecting progressive thermal processing of in-falling 26Al-rich molecular cloud material in the inner Solar System. The thermally unprocessed molecular cloud matter reflecting the nucleosynthetic makeup of the molecular cloud before the last addition of stellar-derived 26Al has not been identified yet but may be preserved in planetesimals that accreted in the outer Solar System. We show that metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites and their components have a unique isotopic signature extending from an inner Solar System composition toward a 26Mg*-depleted and 54Cr-enriched component. This composition is consistent with that expected for thermally unprocessed primordial molecular cloud material before its pollution by stellar-derived 26Al. The 26Mg* and 54Cr compositions of bulk metal-rich chondrites require significant amounts (25–50%) of primordial molecular cloud matter in their precursor material. Given that such high fractions of primordial molecular cloud material are expected to survive only in the outer Solar System, we infer that, similarly to cometary bodies, metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites are samples of planetesimals that accreted beyond the orbits of the gas giants. The lack of evidence for this material in other chondrite groups requires isolation from the outer Solar System, possibly by the opening of disk gaps from the early formation of gas giants.

scholarly journals Oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in the early Solar System inherited from the protosolar molecular cloud

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. eaay2724
Author(s):  
Alexander N. Krot ◽  
Kazuhide Nagashima ◽  
James R. Lyons ◽  
Jeong-Eun Lee ◽  
Martin Bizzarro
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Molecular Cloud ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Terrestrial Planets ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Isotopic Heterogeneity ◽  
Oxygen Isotopic ◽  
O 24

The Sun is 16O-enriched (Δ17O = −28.4 ± 3.6‰) relative to the terrestrial planets, asteroids, and chondrules (−7‰ < Δ17O < 3‰). Ca,Al-rich inclusions (CAIs), the oldest Solar System solids, approach the Sun’s Δ17O. Ultraviolet CO self-shielding resulting in formation of 16O-rich CO and 17,18O-enriched water is the currently favored mechanism invoked to explain the observed range of Δ17O. However, the location of CO self-shielding (molecular cloud or protoplanetary disk) remains unknown. Here we show that CAIs with predominantly low (26Al/27Al)0, <5 × 10−6, exhibit a large inter-CAI range of Δ17O, from −40‰ to −5‰. In contrast, CAIs with the canonical (26Al/27Al)0 of ~5 × 10−5 from unmetamorphosed carbonaceous chondrites have a limited range of Δ17O, −24 ± 2‰. Because CAIs with low (26Al/27Al)0 are thought to have predated the canonical CAIs and formed within first 10,000–20,000 years of the Solar System evolution, these observations suggest oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in the early solar system was inherited from the protosolar molecular cloud.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document