The mineral schreibersite,(Fe,Ni)_3P,provides a reactive source of phosphorus capable of forming phosphorylated molecules.These molecules may have been an important component of prebiotic chemistry,allowing their bu...The mineral schreibersite,(Fe,Ni)_3P,provides a reactive source of phosphorus capable of forming phosphorylated molecules.These molecules may have been an important component of prebiotic chemistry,allowing their build-up and eventual commencement of autopoiesis.Discussed here are potential geochemical routes to providing schreibersite,as a potentially important prebiotic mineral,to the Hadean Earth.Two routes are identified:delivery of phosphides by meteoritic material and the reduction of phosphates to phosphides by high-temperature,low-redox conditions.About 1-10% of all crustal phosphorus is estimated to have been in schreibersite during the Hadean,making the long-term reaction of this mineral with organic-laden water plausible for many years.Ultimately,such conditions would have been conducive to the formation of life as we know it today.展开更多
基金supported by NSF and the NASA Astrobiology Program,under the NSF Center for Chemical Evolution,CHE1504217by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exobiology grant NNX14AN96G
文摘The mineral schreibersite,(Fe,Ni)_3P,provides a reactive source of phosphorus capable of forming phosphorylated molecules.These molecules may have been an important component of prebiotic chemistry,allowing their build-up and eventual commencement of autopoiesis.Discussed here are potential geochemical routes to providing schreibersite,as a potentially important prebiotic mineral,to the Hadean Earth.Two routes are identified:delivery of phosphides by meteoritic material and the reduction of phosphates to phosphides by high-temperature,low-redox conditions.About 1-10% of all crustal phosphorus is estimated to have been in schreibersite during the Hadean,making the long-term reaction of this mineral with organic-laden water plausible for many years.Ultimately,such conditions would have been conducive to the formation of life as we know it today.