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Mao W, Fu X, Wu Z, Zhang J, Ling Z, Liu Y, Zhao YYS, Changela HG, Ni Y, Yan F, Zou Y. Solid-gas carbonate formation during dust events on Mars. Natl Sci Rev 2023; 10:nwac293. [PMID: 36960225 PMCID: PMC10029838 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwac293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Electrostatic discharge experiments under simulated martian atmospheric conditions indicate that atmospheric CO2 has been sequestered into carbonate by the Mars dust activities during the Amazonia era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenshuo Mao
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, School of Space Science and Physics, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, China
| | | | | | - Jiang Zhang
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, School of Space Science and Physics, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, China
| | - Zongcheng Ling
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, School of Space Science and Physics, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, China
| | - Yang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
| | - Yu-Yan Sara Zhao
- International Center for Planetary Science, College of Earth Science, Chengdu University of Technology, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, China
| | - Hitesh G Changela
- J’Heyrovski Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Department of Earth & Planetary Science, University of New Mexico, USA
| | - Yuheng Ni
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, School of Space Science and Physics, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, China
| | - Fabao Yan
- School of Mechanical, Electrical & Information Engineering, Shandong University, China
| | - Yongliao Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
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Grady MM, Summons RE, Swindle TD, Westall F, Kminek G, Meyer MA, Beaty DW, Carrier BL, Haltigin T, Hays LE, Agee CB, Busemann H, Cavalazzi B, Cockell CS, Debaille V, Glavin DP, Hauber E, Hutzler A, Marty B, McCubbin FM, Pratt LM, Regberg AB, Smith AL, Smith CL, Tait KT, Tosca NJ, Udry A, Usui T, Velbel MA, Wadhwa M, Zorzano MP. The Scientific Importance of Returning Airfall Dust as a Part of Mars Sample Return (MSR). ASTROBIOLOGY 2022; 22:S176-S185. [PMID: 34904884 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Dust transported in the martian atmosphere is of intrinsic scientific interest and has relevance for the planning of human missions in the future. The MSR Campaign, as currently designed, presents an important opportunity to return serendipitous, airfall dust. The tubes containing samples collected by the Perseverance rover would be placed in cache depots on the martian surface perhaps as early as 2023-24 for recovery by a subsequent mission no earlier than 2028-29, and possibly as late as 2030-31. Thus, the sample tube surfaces could passively collect dust for multiple years. This dust is deemed to be exceptionally valuable as it would inform our knowledge and understanding of Mars' global mineralogy, surface processes, surface-atmosphere interactions, and atmospheric circulation. Preliminary calculations suggest that the total mass of such dust on a full set of tubes could be as much as 100 mg and, therefore, sufficient for many types of laboratory analyses. Two planning steps would optimize our ability to take advantage of this opportunity: (1) the dust-covered sample tubes should be loaded into the Orbiting Sample container (OS) with minimal cleaning and (2) the capability to recover this dust early in the workflow within an MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) would need to be established. A further opportunity to advance dust/atmospheric science using MSR, depending upon the design of the MSR Campaign elements, may lie with direct sampling and the return of airborne dust. Summary of Findings FINDING D-1: An accumulation of airfall dust would be an unavoidable consequence of leaving M2020 sample tubes cached and exposed on the surface of Mars. Detailed laboratory analyses of this material would yield new knowledge concerning surface-atmosphere interactions that operate on a global scale, as well as provide input to planning for the future robotic and human exploration of Mars. FINDING D-2: The detailed information that is possible from analysis of airfall dust can only be obtained by investigation in Earth laboratories, and thus this is an important corollary aspect of MSR. The same information cannot be obtained from orbit, from in situ analyses, or from analyses of samples drilled from single locations. FINDING D-3: Given that at least some martian dust would be on the exterior surfaces of any sample tubes returned to Earth, the capability to receive and curate dust in an MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) is essential. SUMMARY STATEMENT: The fact that any sample tubes cached on the martian surface would accumulate some quantity of martian airfall dust presents a low-cost scientifically valuable opportunity. Some of this dust would inadvertently be knocked off as part of tube manipulation operations, but any dust possible should be loaded into the OS along with the sample tubes. This dust should be captured in an SRF and made available for detailed scientific analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Roger E Summons
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Timothy D Swindle
- University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Frances Westall
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Orléans, France
| | | | - Michael A Meyer
- NASA Headquarters, Mars Sample Return Program, Washington, DC, USA
| | - David W Beaty
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Brandi L Carrier
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | | | - Lindsay E Hays
- NASA Headquarters, Mars Sample Return Program, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Carl B Agee
- University of New Mexico, Institute of Meteoritics, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Henner Busemann
- ETH Zürich, Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Barbara Cavalazzi
- Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Bologna, Italy
| | - Charles S Cockell
- University of Edinburgh, Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Daniel P Glavin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
| | - Ernst Hauber
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | - Francis M McCubbin
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Lisa M Pratt
- Indiana University Bloomington, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Aaron B Regberg
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Alvin L Smith
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Caroline L Smith
- Natural History Museum, Department of Earth Sciences, London, UK
- University of Glasgow, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, Glasgow, UK
| | - Kimberly T Tait
- Royal Ontario Museum, Department of Natural History, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nicholas J Tosca
- University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, UK
| | - Arya Udry
- University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
| | - Tomohiro Usui
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Chofu, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Michael A Velbel
- Michigan State University, Earth and Environmental Sciences, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Smithsonian Institution, Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Meenakshi Wadhwa
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Maria-Paz Zorzano
- Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC-INTA), Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain
- University of Aberdeen, Department of Planetary Sciences, School of Geosciences, King's College, Aberdeen, UK
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Góbi S, Lin Z, Zhu C, Head-Gordon M, Kaiser RI. Oxygen Isotope Exchange between Carbon Dioxide and Iron Oxides on Mars' Surface. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:2600-2606. [PMID: 35290734 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
An investigation of the fundamental processes leading to the incorporation of 18O isotopes in carbon dioxide and in iron oxides is critical to understanding the atmospheric evolution and geochemistry of Mars. Whereas signatures of 18O have been observed by the Phoenix Lander and the sample analysis at Mars for carbon dioxide, the underlying isotopic exchange pathways with minerals of the crust of Mars are still elusive. Here, we reveal that reactions of gaseous 18O-carbon dioxide over goethite (FeO(OH)) and hematite (Fe2O3) lead to an 18O transfer from the atmosphere that enriches the 18O content of the iron oxides in the absence of water and light. This proof-of-concept study shows that isotopic enrichment processes on Mars not only are limited to the atmosphere but also proceed via chemical interaction with dry iron oxides. These processes are decisive to comprehending the 18O cycle between the atmosphere and the surface on the planetary scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sándor Góbi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
- W.M. Keck Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
| | - Zhou Lin
- Kenneth S. Pitzer Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Cheng Zhu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
- W.M. Keck Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
| | - Martin Head-Gordon
- Kenneth S. Pitzer Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Ralf I Kaiser
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
- W.M. Keck Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawai'i at Ma̅noa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States
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Shen J, Wyness AJ, Claire MW, Zerkle AL. Spatial Variability of Microbial Communities and Salt Distributions Across a Latitudinal Aridity Gradient in the Atacama Desert. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2021; 82:442-458. [PMID: 33438074 PMCID: PMC8384830 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-020-01672-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Over the past 150 million years, the Chilean Atacama Desert has been transformed into one of the most inhospitable landscapes by geophysical changes, which makes it an ideal Mars analog that has been explored for decades. However, a heavy rainfall that occurred in the Atacama in 2017 provides a unique opportunity to study the response of resident extremophiles to rapid environmental change associated with excessive water and salt shock. Here we combine mineral/salt composition measurements, amendment cell culture experiments, and next-generation sequencing analyses to study the variations in salts and microbial communities along a latitudinal aridity gradient of the Atacama Desert. In addition, we examine the reshuffling of Atacama microbiomes after the rainfall event. Analysis of microbial community composition revealed that soils within the southern arid desert were consistently dominated by Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, and Acidobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. Intriguingly, the hyperarid microbial consortia exhibited a similar pattern to the more southern desert. Salts at the shallow subsurface were dissolved and leached down to a deeper layer, challenging indigenous microorganisms with the increasing osmotic stress. Microbial viability was found to change with aridity and rainfall events. This study sheds light on the structure of xerotolerant, halotolerant, and radioresistant microbiomes from the hyperarid northern desert to the less arid southern transition region, as well as their response to changes in water availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianxun Shen
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AL, UK.
| | - Adam J Wyness
- Sediment Ecology Research Group, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK
- Coastal Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6139, South Africa
| | - Mark W Claire
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AL, UK
| | - Aubrey L Zerkle
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AL, UK
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Hsia CCW, Schmitz A, Lambertz M, Perry SF, Maina JN. Evolution of air breathing: oxygen homeostasis and the transitions from water to land and sky. Compr Physiol 2013; 3:849-915. [PMID: 23720333 PMCID: PMC3926130 DOI: 10.1002/cphy.c120003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Life originated in anoxia, but many organisms came to depend upon oxygen for survival, independently evolving diverse respiratory systems for acquiring oxygen from the environment. Ambient oxygen tension (PO2) fluctuated through the ages in correlation with biodiversity and body size, enabling organisms to migrate from water to land and air and sometimes in the opposite direction. Habitat expansion compels the use of different gas exchangers, for example, skin, gills, tracheae, lungs, and their intermediate stages, that may coexist within the same species; coexistence may be temporally disjunct (e.g., larval gills vs. adult lungs) or simultaneous (e.g., skin, gills, and lungs in some salamanders). Disparate systems exhibit similar directions of adaptation: toward larger diffusion interfaces, thinner barriers, finer dynamic regulation, and reduced cost of breathing. Efficient respiratory gas exchange, coupled to downstream convective and diffusive resistances, comprise the "oxygen cascade"-step-down of PO2 that balances supply against toxicity. Here, we review the origin of oxygen homeostasis, a primal selection factor for all respiratory systems, which in turn function as gatekeepers of the cascade. Within an organism's lifespan, the respiratory apparatus adapts in various ways to upregulate oxygen uptake in hypoxia and restrict uptake in hyperoxia. In an evolutionary context, certain species also become adapted to environmental conditions or habitual organismic demands. We, therefore, survey the comparative anatomy and physiology of respiratory systems from invertebrates to vertebrates, water to air breathers, and terrestrial to aerial inhabitants. Through the evolutionary directions and variety of gas exchangers, their shared features and individual compromises may be appreciated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connie C W Hsia
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
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