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 A Comprehensive Study of Major, Minor, and Light Element Abundances in Over 100 Interplanetary Dust Particles

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 283-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathie L. Thomas ◽  
Lindsay P. Keller ◽  
David S. McKay
Keyword(s):  
Major Element ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Rich Material ◽  
Individual Grains ◽  
Comprehensive Study

AbstractOver 100 individual and cluster interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) have been analyzed for bulk abundances of 15 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni). In general, IDPs have chondritic major element abundances, within a factor of 2 of the CI chondrites, and have carbon contents which average ~2-3 times higher than that of the most primitive, carbon-rich, carbonaceous meteorites (CI). The C-rich material is largely amorphous and is distributed throughout the particle as a matrix surrounding individual grains. The carbonaceous material has either smooth or vesicular texture; the latter texture suggests that volatiles could have been lost by particle heating which occurs during entry through the Earth's atmosphere.

scholarly journals Interstellar and Solar System organic matter preserved in interplanetary dust

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 426-426
Author(s):  
Scott Messenger ◽  
K. Nakamura-Messenger
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Mass Fractionation ◽  
Current State ◽  
Short Period

AbstractInterplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the Earths stratosphere derive from collisions among asteroids and by the disruption and outgassing of short-period comets. Chondritic porous (CP) IDPs are among the most primitive Solar System materials. CP-IDPs have been linked to cometary parent bodies by their mineralogy, textures, C-content, and dynamical histories. CP-IDPs are fragile, fine-grained (< um) assemblages of anhydrous amorphous and crystalline silicates, oxides and sulfides bound together by abundant carbonaceous material. Ancient silicate, oxide, and SiC stardust grains exhibiting highly anomalous isotopic compositions are abundant in CP-IDPs, constituting 0.01-1% of the mass of the particles. The organic matter in CP-IDPs is isotopically anomalous, with enrichments in D/H reaching 50x the terrestrial SMOW value and 15N/14N ratios up to 3x terrestrial standard compositions. These anomalies are indicative of low T (10-100 K) mass fractionation in cold molecular cloud or the outermost reaches of the protosolar disk. The organic matter shows distinct morphologies, including sub-um globules, bubbly textures, featureless, and with mineral inclusions. Infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry studies of organic matter in IDPs reveals diverse species including aliphatic and aromatic compounds. The organic matter with the highest isotopic anomalies appears to be richer in aliphatic compounds. These materials also bear similarities and differences with primitive, isotopically anomalous organic matter in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The diversity of the organic chemistry, morphology, and isotopic properties in IDPs and meteorites reflects variable preservation of interstellar/primordial components and Solar System processing. One unifying feature is the presence of sub-um isotopically anomalous organic globules among all primitive materials, including IDPs, meteorites, and comet Wild-2 samples returned by the Stardust mission. We will present an overview of the current state of understanding of the properties and origins of organic matter in primitive IDPs.

scholarly journals Origin of the RNA world: The fate of nucleobases in warm little ponds

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (43) ◽  
pp. 11327-11332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben K. D. Pearce ◽  
Ralph E. Pudritz ◽  
Dmitry A. Semenov ◽  
Thomas K. Henning
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Rna World ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Cellular Life

Before the origin of simple cellular life, the building blocks of RNA (nucleotides) had to form and polymerize in favorable environments on early Earth. At this time, meteorites and interplanetary dust particles delivered organics such as nucleobases (the characteristic molecules of nucleotides) to warm little ponds whose wet–dry cycles promoted rapid polymerization. We build a comprehensive numerical model for the evolution of nucleobases in warm little ponds leading to the emergence of the first nucleotides and RNA. We couple Earth’s early evolution with complex prebiotic chemistry in these environments. We find that RNA polymers must have emerged very quickly after the deposition of meteorites (less than a few years). Their constituent nucleobases were primarily meteoritic in origin and not from interplanetary dust particles. Ponds appeared as continents rose out of the early global ocean, but this increasing availability of “targets” for meteorites was offset by declining meteorite bombardment rates. Moreover, the rapid losses of nucleobases to pond seepage during wet periods, and to UV photodissociation during dry periods, mean that the synthesis of nucleotides and their polymerization into RNA occurred in just one to a few wet–dry cycles. Under these conditions, RNA polymers likely appeared before 4.17 billion years ago.

Accretion of neon, organics, CO2, nitrogen and water from large interplanetary dust particles on the early Earth

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 1117-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Maurette ◽  
Jean Duprat ◽  
Cécile Engrand ◽  
Matthieu Gounelle ◽  
Gero Kurat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles

scholarly journals Collection and Microanalysis of Antarctic Micrometeorites

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Maurette ◽  
C. Engrand ◽  
G. Kurat
Keyword(s):  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles

AbstractMicrometeorites (MMs) represent the most common interplanetary dust particles (50-500 μm). They are similar to carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) but do not match, mineralogically and chemically, known CC types.

Amino acid cosmogeochemistry

1991 ◽  
Vol 333 (1268) ◽  
pp. 349-358 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Cosmic Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Racemic Mixtures ◽  
Protein Amino Acids ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Diagenetic Reactions

Amino acids are ubiquitous components of living organisms and as a result they are widely distributed on the surface of the Earth. Whereas only 20 amino acids are found in proteins, a much more diverse mixture of amino acids has been detected in carbonaceous meteorites. Amino acids in living organisms consist exclusively of the L-enantiomers, but in meteorites, amino acids with chiral carbons are present as racemic mixtures. Protein amino acids undergo a variety of diagenetic reactions that produce some other amino acids but not the unique amino acids present in meteorites. Nevertheless, trace quantities of meteoritic amino acids may occur on the Earth, either as a result of bolide impact or from the capture of cosmic dust particles. The ensemble of amino acids present on the early Earth before life existed was probably similar to those in prebiotic experiments and meteorites. This generates a question about why the L-amino acids on which life is based were selected.

scholarly journals Structural, chemical and isotopic examinations of interstellar organic matter extracted from meteorites and interstellar dust particles

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S251) ◽  
pp. 333-334
Author(s):  
Henner Busemann ◽  
Conel M. O'D. Alexander ◽  
Larry R. Nittler ◽  
Rhonda M. Stroud ◽  
Tom J. Zega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Focused Ion Beam ◽  
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles

AbstractMeteorites and Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) are supposed to originate from asteroids and comets, sampling the most primitive bodies in the Solar System. They contain abundant carbonaceous material. Some of this, mostly insoluble organic matter (IOM), likely originated in the protosolar molecular cloud, based on spectral properties and H and N isotope characteristics. Together with cometary material returned with the Stardust mission, these samples provide a benchmark for models aiming to understand organic chemistry in the interstellar medium, as well as for mechanisms that secured the survival of these fragile molecules during Solar System formation. The carrier molecules of the isotope anomalies are largely unknown, although amorphous carbonaceous spheres, so-called nanoglobules, have been identified as carriers. We are using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry to identify isotopically anomalous material in meteoritic IOM and IDPs at a ~100-200 nm scale. Organics of most likely interstellar origin are then extracted with the Focused-Ion-Beam technique and prepared for synchrotron X-ray and Transmission Electron Microscopy. These experiments yield information on the character of the H- and N-bearing interstellar molecules: While the association of H and N isotope anomalies with nanoglobules could be confirmed, we have also identified amorphous, micron-sized monolithic grains. D-enrichments in meteoritic IOM appear not to be systematically associated with any specific functional groups, whereas 15N-rich material can be related to imine and nitrile functionality. The large 15N- enrichments observed here (δ15N > 1000 ‰) cannot be reconciled with models using interstellar ammonia ice reactions, and hence, provide new constraints for understanding the chemistry in cold interstellar clouds.

scholarly journals The Question of Presolar Components within Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) Collected in the Stratosphere

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 34-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Space Observatory ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Infrared Space Observatory ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Astronomical Dust

AbstractInterplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are from asteroids and comets, and they are the smallest and most fine-grained meteoritic objects available for laboratory investigation. Cometary IDPs are of special significance because they are presently the only samples of comets, and comets are expected to be enriched in preserved solar nebula and presolar components. These components may include not only cosmically rare refractory circumstellar grains(e.g. SiC) that are recovered from meteorites but also cosmically abundant interstellar silicates and carbonaceous grains that were the fundamental building blocks of the Solar System. D/H ratios measured in IDPs are consistent with the survival of interstellar carbonaceous material, and some IDPs contain glassy grains with properties similar to those of interstellar “amorphous silicates”. Submicrometer forsterite and enstatite crystals in IDPs resemble circumstellar silicates detected by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). ISO also detected a broad ~ 23 µm feature around several stars, and a similar feature observed in IDP spectra is due to submicrometer FeNi sulfide grains, suggesting that sulfide grains may be a significant constituent of astronomical dust.

Low voltage scanning electron microscopy of interplanetary dust particles

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 208-209
Author(s):  
D.F. Blake ◽  
T.W. Reilly ◽  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
T.E. Bunch
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Interplanetary Dust ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Scanning Electron

Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) are a relatively new class of extraterrestrial materials which are collected by high-flying aircraft in the stratosphere. The particles, ∼1.0-50 μm in size, enter the earth's atmosphere at ballistic velocities, but are sufficiently small to be decelerated without burning up. IDPs commonly have solar elemental abundances, and are thoughfto have undergone very little differentiation since the formation of the solar system. While these materials are called “particles,” they are in fact aggregates of a variety of mineral phases, glass, and carbonaceous material. Grains within IDPs commonly range from a few microns to a few tens of nanometers. The extraterrestrial origin of IDPs has been established by the discovery of solar flare tracks in some mineral grains, and recent D/H isotopic ratios recorded from individual particles. The source and formational history of the particles is a topic of active research. At present, the primary means of screening and classifying IDPs is Scanning Electron Microscopy, although a variety of electron microbeam and X-ray techniques is used for subsequent analysis.

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