Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/31946
Title: | Constraining the preservation of organic compounds in Mars analog nontronites after exposure to acid and alkaline fluids | Authors: | Gil-Lozano, Carolina Fairén, Alberto G. Muñoz-Iglesias, Victoria Fernández-Sampedro, Maite Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga Gago-Duport, Luis Losa-Adams, Elisabeth Carrizo, Daniel Bishop, Janice L. Fornaro, Teresa Mateo-Martí, Eva |
Issue Date: | 2020 | Journal: | SCIENTIFIC REPORTS | Number: | 10 | Issue: | 1 | Abstract: | The presence of organic matter in lacustrine mudstone sediments at Gale crater was revealed by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, which also identified smectite clay minerals. Analogue experiments on phyllosilicates formed under low temperature aqueous conditons have illustrated that these are excellent reservoirs to host organic compounds against the harsh surface conditions of Mars. Here, we evaluate whether the capacity of smectites to preserve organic compounds can be influenced by a short exposure to different diagenetic fluids. We analyzed the stability of glycine embedded within nontronite samples previously exposed to either acidic or alkaline fluids (hereafter referred to as “treated nontronites”) under Mars-like surface conditions. Analyses performed using multiple techniques showed higher photodegradation of glycine in the acid-treated nontronite, triggered by decarboxylation and deamination processes. In constrast, our experiments showed that glycine molecules were preferably incorporated by ion exchange in the interlayer region of the alkali-treated nontronite, conferring them a better protection against the external conditions. Our results demonstrate that smectite previously exposed to fluids with different pH values influences how glycine is adsorbed into their interlayer regions, affecting their potential for preservation of organic compounds under contemporary Mars surface conditions. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/31946 | URL: | https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85091052915 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71657-9 |
ISSN: | 2045-2322 | DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-020-71657-9 | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gil-Lozano2020_NatureScientificReports_PreservationOrganicsMars.pdf | PDF EDITORIALE | 1.47 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are published in Open Access, unless otherwise indicated.