{"id":71764,"date":"2020-04-15T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-459924"},"modified":"2023-09-20T19:45:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T23:45:23","slug":"simulating-early-ocean-vents-shows-lifes-building-blocks-form-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/earth-science\/simulating-early-ocean-vents-shows-lifes-building-blocks-form-under-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Simulating Early Ocean Vents Shows Life’s Building Blocks Form Under Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?w=1600\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">A seafloor vent called a “white smoker” spews mineral-rich water into the ocean and serves as an energy hub for living creatures. Some scientists think life on Earth may have begun around similar vents on the ocean floor billions of years ago.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">Credits: NOAA\/C. German (WHOI)<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Where did life first form on Earth? Some scientists think it could have been around hydrothermal vents that may have existed at the bottom of the ocean 4.5 billion years ago. In a new paper in the journal Astrobiology, scientists at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory describe how they mimicked possible ancient undersea environments with a complex experimental setup. They showed that under extreme pressure, fluid from these ancient seafloor cracks mixed with ocean water could have reacted with minerals from the hydrothermal vents to produce organic molecules \u2014 the building blocks that compose nearly all life on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In particular, the research lays important groundwork for in-depth studies of such ocean worlds as Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus and Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa, which are both thought to have liquid-water oceans buried beneath thick icy crusts and may host hydrothermal activity similar to what\u2019s being simulated at JPL. This area of research belongs to a field of study known as astrobiology, and the work was done by the <a href=\"https:\/\/nai.nasa.gov\/teams\/can-5\/jpl-icy-worlds\/\" rel=\"noopener\">JPL Icy Worlds team<\/a> as part of the former NASA Astrobiology Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA Studies Underwater \u2018White Smoker\u2019 Vents: Is This Where Life Began?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cX4zzFWx9mA?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZpmajNtq8AtBItVDYadNR5q\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Under the Ancient Sea<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To simulate conditions that might have existed on the ocean floor of a newly formed Earth, before the sea teemed with life, then-graduate student Lauren White and colleagues conducted an experiment that brought together three key ingredients: hydrogen-rich water, like the kind that could have flowed out from beneath the seafloor through vents; seawater enriched with carbon dioxide, as it would have been from the ancient atmosphere; and a few minerals that might have formed in that environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White and colleagues \u2014 including her graduate advisor, retired JPL scientist Michael Russell \u2014 simulated vents that didn\u2019t spew particularly hot water (it was only about 212 Fahrenheit, or 100 degrees Celsius). One major challenge with creating the experimental setup was maintaining the same pressure found 0.6 miles (1 kilometers) below the ocean surface \u2014 about 100 times the air pressure at sea level. Previous experiments have tested similar chemical reactions in individual high-pressure chambers, but White and her colleagues wanted to more fully replicate the physical properties of these environments, including the way the fluids flow and mix together. This would require maintaining the high pressure in multiple chambers, which added to the complexity of the project. (Because a crack or leak in even a single high-pressure chamber poses the threat of an explosion, it\u2019s standard operating procedure in such cases to install a blast shield between the apparatus and the scientists.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientists wanted to determine whether such ancient conditions could have produced organic molecules \u2014 those containing carbon atoms in loops or chains, as well as with other atoms, most commonly hydrogen. Examples of complex organic molecules include amino acids, which can eventually form DNA and RNA.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?w=1280\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Lauren White, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23688-16.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Lauren White, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, adjusts an experiment that simulates how ancient seawater and fluid from hydrothermal vents could have reacted with minerals from the seafloor to create organic molecules 4.5 billion years ago. The image was taken at JPL in 2014.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">Credits: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>But just as eggs, flour, butter and sugar aren\u2019t the same thing as a cake, the presence of both carbon and hydrogen in the early oceans doesn\u2019t guarantee the formation of organic molecules. While a carbon and a hydrogen atom might reasonably bump into each other in this prehistoric ocean, they wouldn\u2019t automatically join to form an organic compound. That process requires energy, and just like a ball won\u2019t roll up a hill by itself, carbon and hydrogen won\u2019t bind together without an energetic push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A previous study by White and her colleagues showed that water pulsing through hydrothermal vents could have formed iron sulfides. By acting as a catalyst, iron sulfides could provide that energetic push, lowering the amount of energy required for carbon and hydrogen to react together, and increasing the likelihood they would form organics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new experiment tested whether this reaction would have been likely to occur under the physical conditions around ancient seafloor vents, if such vents existed at the time. The answer? Yes. The team created formate and trace amounts of methane, both organic molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Signs of Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally occurring methane on Earth is produced largely by living organisms or through the decay of biological material, including plants and animals. Could methane on other planets also be a sign of biological activity? To use methane to search for life on other worlds, scientists need to understand both its biological and non-biological sources, such as the one identified by White and her colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s really significant that we showed that these reactions take place in the presence of those physical factors, like the pressure and the flow,\u201d said White. \u201cWe are still a long way from demonstrating that life could have formed in these environments. But if anyone ever wants to make that case, I think we\u2019ll need to have demonstrated the feasibility of every step of the process; we can\u2019t take anything for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The work builds on Michael Russell\u2019s hypothesis that life on Earth may have formed at the bottom of Earth\u2019s early ocean. The formation of organic molecules would be a major step in this process. Scientists in the same JPL research group have explored other aspects of this work, such as replicating the chemical conditions in the early ocean to demonstrate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?feature=7340\" rel=\"noopener\">how amino acids might form there<\/a>. However, the new study is unique in the way it re-created the physical conditions of those environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the next few years, NASA will launch Europa Clipper, which will orbit Jupiter and perform multiple flybys of the icy moon Europa. Scientists believe plumes there may spew water into space from the moon\u2019s ocean, which lies beneath about 2 to 20 miles (3 to 30 kilometers) of ice. These plumes could provide information about possible hydrothermal processes at the bottom of the ocean, thought to be about 50 miles (80 kilometers) deep. The new paper contributes to a growing understanding of the chemistry that might take place in oceans other than our own, which will help scientists interpret findings of that mission and others to come.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on astrobiology at NASA, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/astrobiology.nasa.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/astrobiology.nasa.gov\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Calla Cofield<br><\/strong>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br>626-808-2469<br>calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2020-071<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where did life first form on Earth? Some scientists think it could have been around hydrothermal vents that may have existed at the bottom of the ocean 4.5 billion years ago. In a new paper in the journal Astrobiology, scientists at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory describe how they mimicked possible ancient undersea environments with a [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":77291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3228,2834,2860,9468,3264],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[8605,8612],"coauthors":[12651],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Simulating Early Ocean Vents Shows Life’s Building Blocks Form Under Pressure","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/earth-science\/simulating-early-ocean-vents-shows-lifes-building-blocks-form-under-pressure\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/earth-science\/simulating-early-ocean-vents-shows-lifes-building-blocks-form-under-pressure\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg"},"articleSection":"Earth","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory"}],"creator":["Jet Propulsion Laboratory"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Science & Research","Earth Science","Water & Energy Cycle","Earth","Jet Propulsion Laboratory","Oceanography"],"dateCreated":"2020-04-15T19:25:00Z","datePublished":"2020-04-15T19:25:00Z","dateModified":"2023-09-20T23:45:23Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Simulating Early Ocean Vents Shows Life’s Building Blocks Form Under Pressure\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/earth-science\/simulating-early-ocean-vents-shows-lifes-building-blocks-form-under-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2020-04-15T19:25:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Earth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Science & Research,Earth Science,Water & Energy Cycle,Earth,Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Oceanography\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Jet Propulsion Laboratory\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":6,"time_ago":"4 years","featured_image":{"id":77291,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/pia23686-16.jpg","title":"pia23686-16","alt":"","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71764"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":514257,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71764\/revisions\/514257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71764"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=71764"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=71764"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=71764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}