DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals

Abstract

Direct evidence of complex prebiotic chemistry from a water-rich world in the outer solar system is provided by the 4.5-billion-year-old halite crystals hosted in the Zag and Monahans (1998) meteorites. This study offers the first comprehensive organic analysis of the soluble and insoluble organic compounds found in the millimeter-sized halite crystals containing brine inclusions and sheds light on the nature and activity of aqueous fluids on a primitive parent body. Associated with these trapped brines are organic compounds exhibiting wide chemical variations representing organic precursors, intermediates, and reaction products that make up life’s precursor molecules such as amino acids. The organic compounds also contain a mixture of C-, O-, and N-bearing macromolecular carbon materials exhibiting a wide range of structural order, as well as aromatic, ketone, imine, and/or imidazole compounds. The enrichment in 15N is comparable to the organic matter in pristine Renazzo-type carbonaceous chondrites, which reflects the sources of interstellar 15N, such as ammonia and amino acids. The amino acid content of the Zag halite deviates from the meteorite matrix, supporting an exogenic origin of the halite, and therefore, the Zag meteorite contains organics synthesized on two distinct parent bodies. Lastly, our study suggests that the asteroidal parent bodymore » where the halite precipitated, potentially asteroid 1 Ceres, shows evidence for a complex combination of biologically and prebiologically relevant molecules.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [7];  [8]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10]; ORCiD logo [10]
  1. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (United States). Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science
  2. Yokohama National Univ., Hodogayaku, Yokohama (Japan). Faculty of Engineering
  3. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Otsu, Nankoku, Kochi (Japan). Kochi Inst. for Core Sample Research
  4. Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Washington, DC (United States). Geophysical Lab.
  5. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (United States)
  6. Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Science
  7. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
  8. Hiroshima Univ., Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima (Japan). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Systems Science
  9. Univ. of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku (Japan). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Science
  10. Inst. of Materials Structure Science, High-Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Tsukuba (Japan). Dept. of Materials Structure Science
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
OSTI Identifier:
1434010
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231; AB261011; AB271007; JP15K17794; AB271015; AB281004
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Science Advances
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2375-2548
Publisher:
AAAS
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats

Chan, Queenie H. S., Zolensky, Michael E., Kebukawa, Yoko, Fries, Marc, Ito, Motoo, Steele, Andrew, Rahman, Zia, Nakato, Aiko, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Suga, Hiroki, Takahashi, Yoshio, Takeichi, Yasuo, and Mase, Kazuhiko. Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aao3521.
Chan, Queenie H. S., Zolensky, Michael E., Kebukawa, Yoko, Fries, Marc, Ito, Motoo, Steele, Andrew, Rahman, Zia, Nakato, Aiko, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Suga, Hiroki, Takahashi, Yoshio, Takeichi, Yasuo, & Mase, Kazuhiko. Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao3521
Chan, Queenie H. S., Zolensky, Michael E., Kebukawa, Yoko, Fries, Marc, Ito, Motoo, Steele, Andrew, Rahman, Zia, Nakato, Aiko, Kilcoyne, A. L. David, Suga, Hiroki, Takahashi, Yoshio, Takeichi, Yasuo, and Mase, Kazuhiko. Wed . "Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao3521. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1434010.
@article{osti_1434010,
title = {Organic matter in extraterrestrial water-bearing salt crystals},
author = {Chan, Queenie H. S. and Zolensky, Michael E. and Kebukawa, Yoko and Fries, Marc and Ito, Motoo and Steele, Andrew and Rahman, Zia and Nakato, Aiko and Kilcoyne, A. L. David and Suga, Hiroki and Takahashi, Yoshio and Takeichi, Yasuo and Mase, Kazuhiko},
abstractNote = {Direct evidence of complex prebiotic chemistry from a water-rich world in the outer solar system is provided by the 4.5-billion-year-old halite crystals hosted in the Zag and Monahans (1998) meteorites. This study offers the first comprehensive organic analysis of the soluble and insoluble organic compounds found in the millimeter-sized halite crystals containing brine inclusions and sheds light on the nature and activity of aqueous fluids on a primitive parent body. Associated with these trapped brines are organic compounds exhibiting wide chemical variations representing organic precursors, intermediates, and reaction products that make up life’s precursor molecules such as amino acids. The organic compounds also contain a mixture of C-, O-, and N-bearing macromolecular carbon materials exhibiting a wide range of structural order, as well as aromatic, ketone, imine, and/or imidazole compounds. The enrichment in 15N is comparable to the organic matter in pristine Renazzo-type carbonaceous chondrites, which reflects the sources of interstellar 15N, such as ammonia and amino acids. The amino acid content of the Zag halite deviates from the meteorite matrix, supporting an exogenic origin of the halite, and therefore, the Zag meteorite contains organics synthesized on two distinct parent bodies. Lastly, our study suggests that the asteroidal parent body where the halite precipitated, potentially asteroid 1 Ceres, shows evidence for a complex combination of biologically and prebiologically relevant molecules.},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aao3521},
journal = {Science Advances},
number = 1,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Wed Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 33 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Localized sources of water vapour on the dwarf planet (1) Ceres
journal, January 2014

  • Küppers, Michael; O’Rourke, Laurence; Bockelée-Morvan, Dominique
  • Nature, Vol. 505, Issue 7484
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature12918

Clast sizes of ejecta from explosive eruptions on asteroids: implications for the fate of the basaltic products of differentiation
journal, May 1996


Nitrogen K -edge XANES – an overview of reference compounds used to identify `unknown' organic nitrogen in environmental samples
journal, October 2007

  • Leinweber, Peter; Kruse, Jens; Walley, Fran L.
  • Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 14, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1107/S0909049507042513

Amino acid analyses of type 3 chondrites Colony, Ornans, Chainpur, and Bishunpur: Amino acid analysis of type 3 chondrites
journal, September 2012


Interferometer-controlled scanning transmission X-ray microscopes at the Advanced Light Source
journal, February 2003

  • Kilcoyne, A. L. D.; Tyliszczak, T.; Steele, W. F.
  • Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 10, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1107/S0909049502017739

Direct Detection of the Asteroidal YORP Effect
journal, April 2007


Methane from UV-irradiated carbonaceous chondrites under simulated Martian conditions: CH
journal, August 2012

  • Schuerger, Andrew C.; Moores, John E.; Clausen, Christian A.
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Vol. 117, Issue E8
  • DOI: 10.1029/2011JE004023

Asteroid 6 Hebe: The probable parent body of the H-type ordinary chondrites and the IIE iron meteorites
journal, November 1998


Cryovolcanism on Ceres
journal, September 2016


Unusual stable isotope ratios in amino acid and carboxylic acid extracts from the Murchison meteorite
journal, April 1987

  • Epstein, S.; Krishnamurthy, R. V.; Cronin, J. R.
  • Nature, Vol. 326, Issue 6112
  • DOI: 10.1038/326477a0

Interpretation of Raman spectra of disordered and amorphous carbon
journal, May 2000


The origin and evolution of chondrites recorded in the elemental and isotopic compositions of their macromolecular organic matter
journal, September 2007

  • Alexander, C. M. O’D.; Fogel, M.; Yabuta, H.
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 71, Issue 17
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2007.06.052

Absolute isotopic scale for deuterium analysis of natural waters. Absolute D/H ratio for SMOW
journal, December 1970


Shock synthesis of amino acids from impacting cometary and icy planet surface analogues
journal, September 2013

  • Martins, Zita; Price, Mark C.; Goldman, Nir
  • Nature Geoscience, Vol. 6, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1930

Raman Spectrum of Graphite
journal, August 1970

  • Tuinstra, F.; Koenig, J. L.
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 53, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1674108

Isotopic and chemical variation of organic nanoglobules in primitive meteorites
journal, April 2013

  • De Gregorio, Bradley T.; Stroud, Rhonda M.; Nittler, Larry R.
  • Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 48, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1111/maps.12109

The Provenances of Asteroids, and Their Contributions to the Volatile Inventories of the Terrestrial Planets
journal, July 2012


The geochemistry of the stable carbon isotopes
journal, February 1953


Amino acid analyses of R and CK chondrites
journal, March 2015

  • Burton, Aaron S.; McLain, Hannah; Glavin, Daniel P.
  • Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 50, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1111/maps.12433

Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable standard for natural 15N abundance measurements
journal, June 1983


THE DIRECT INTRODUCTION OF SULFUR INTO AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS 1
journal, November 1929

  • Glass, H. B.; Reid, E. Emmet
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 51, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1021/ja01386a036

Quantitative organic and light-element analysis of comet 81P/Wild 2 particles using C-, N-, and O-μ-XANES
journal, February 2008


Investigation of organo-carbonate associations in carbonaceous chondrites by Raman spectroscopy
journal, March 2017

  • Chan, Queenie H. S.; Zolensky, Michael E.; Bodnar, Robert J.
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 201
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.10.048

Halite and stable chlorine isotopes in the Zag H3-6 breccia
journal, May 2004


Development of a Compact Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope (STXM) at the Photon Factory
journal, March 2014

  • Takeichi, Yasuo; Inami, Nobuhito; Suga, Hiroki
  • Chemistry Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1246/cl.130948

Origin of organic matter in early solar system—III. Amino acids: Catalytic synthesis
journal, September 1971


Soft X-ray spectroscopy from image sequences with sub-100 nm spatial resolution
journal, February 2000


A propensity for n-ω-amino acids in thermally altered Antarctic meteorites: n-ω-amino acids in thermally altered meteorites
journal, March 2012


The Monahans chondrite and halite: Argon-39/argon-40 age, solar gases, cosmic-ray exposure ages, and parent body regolith neutron flux and thickness
journal, January 2001


H, C, and N isotopic compositions of Hayabusa category 3 organic samples
journal, January 2014

  • Ito, Motoo; Uesugi, Masayuki; Naraoka, Hiroshi
  • Earth, Planets and Space, Vol. 66, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/1880-5981-66-91

Indigenous Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Circumstellar Graphite Grains from Primitive Meteorites
journal, July 1998

  • Messenger, S.; Amari, S.; Gao, X.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 502, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1086/305874

Dynamical Spreading of Asteroid Families by the Yarkovsky Effect
journal, November 2001


In Situ Evidence for an Ancient Aqueous Environment at Meridiani Planum, Mars
journal, December 2004


Microprobe two-step laser mass spectrometry as an analytical tool for meteoritic samples
journal, January 1997


Isotopic analyses of nitrogenous compounds from the Murchison meteorite: ammonia, amines, amino acids, and polar hydrocarbons
journal, December 1994


Design and performance of a compact scanning transmission X-ray microscope at the Photon Factory
journal, January 2016

  • Takeichi, Y.; Inami, N.; Suga, H.
  • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4940409

The halite-bearing Zag and Monahans (1998) meteorite breccias: Shock metamorphism, thermal metamorphism and aqueous alteration on the H-chondrite parent body
journal, January 2002


Life in extreme environments
journal, February 2001

  • Rothschild, Lynn J.; Mancinelli, Rocco L.
  • Nature, Vol. 409, Issue 6823
  • DOI: 10.1038/35059215

Bright carbonate deposits as evidence of aqueous alteration on (1) Ceres
journal, June 2016

  • De Sanctis, M. C.; Raponi, A.; Ammannito, E.
  • Nature, Vol. 536, Issue 7614
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature18290

Comprehensive imaging and Raman spectroscopy of carbonate globules from Martian meteorite ALH 84001 and a terrestrial analogue from Svalbard
journal, September 2007


Amino acid composition, petrology, geochemistry, 14 C terrestrial age and oxygen isotopes of the Shişr 033 CR chondrite
journal, September 2007


Organic thermometry for chondritic parent bodies
journal, July 2008

  • Cody, G. D.; Alexander, C. M. O'D.; Yabuta, H.
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 272, Issue 1-2
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.05.008

One-pot synthesis of amino acid precursors with insoluble organic matter in planetesimals with aqueous activity
journal, March 2017

  • Kebukawa, Yoko; Chan, Queenie H. S.; Tachibana, Shogo
  • Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602093

Unusual nonterrestrial l-proteinogenic amino acid excesses in the Tagish Lake meteorite: l-amino acid excesses in the Tagish Lake meteorite
journal, July 2012


Isotopic imaging of refractory inclusions in meteorites with the NanoSIMS 50L
journal, December 2008


Complex aromatic hydrocarbons in Stardust samples collected from comet 81P/Wild 2: Complex aromatic hydrocarbons in Stardust samples
journal, May 2010


Identification of Complex Aromatic Molecules in Individual Interplanetary Dust Particles
journal, October 1993


Ceres: Sulfur deposits and graphitized carbon: SULFUR AND CARBON ON CERES
journal, September 2016

  • Hendrix, Amanda R.; Vilas, Faith; Li, Jian-Yang
  • Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 17
  • DOI: 10.1002/2016GL070240

Capture effects in carbonaceous material: A Stardust analogue study
journal, October 2009


Amino acid analyses of Antarctic CM2 meteorites using liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry
journal, June 2006


Solar System evolution from compositional mapping of the asteroid belt
journal, January 2014


Absolute isotopic scale for deuterium analysis of natural waters. Absolute D/H ratio for SMOW
journal, January 1970


Amino acid composition, petrology, geochemistry,14C terrestrial age and oxygen isotopes of the Shisr 033 CR chondrite
text, January 2007

  • Franchi, I. A.; Botta, O.; Ehrenfreund, P.
  • Meteoritical Society at the University of Arkansas, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • DOI: 10.7892/boris.85732

Solar System evolution from compositional mapping of the asteroid belt
text, January 2014


Shock metamorphism of ordinary chondrites
journal, December 1991


Isotopic analyses of nitrogenous compounds from the Murchison meteorite: ammonia, amines, amino acids, and polar hydrocarbons
journal, December 1994


XANES investigation of chemical states of nitrogen in polyaniline
journal, January 1998


Ceres: Evolution and current state
journal, January 2005


Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable standard for natural 15N abundance measurements
journal, June 1983


The halite-bearing Zag and Monahans (1998) meteorite breccias: Shock metamorphism, thermal metamorphism and aqueous alteration on the H-chondrite parent body
journal, January 2002


One-pot synthesis of amino acid precursors with insoluble organic matter in planetesimals with aqueous activity
journal, March 2017

  • Kebukawa, Yoko; Chan, Queenie H. S.; Tachibana, Shogo
  • Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602093

In Situ Evidence for an Ancient Aqueous Environment at Meridiani Planum, Mars
journal, December 2004


The Provenances of Asteroids, and Their Contributions to the Volatile Inventories of the Terrestrial Planets
journal, July 2012


Cryovolcanism on Ceres
journal, September 2016


Works referencing / citing this record:

Molecular biomarkers in the subsurface of the Salar Grande (Atacama, Chile) evaporitic deposits
journal, August 2018

  • Sánchez-García, Laura; Aeppli, Christoph; Parro, Victor
  • Biogeochemistry, Vol. 140, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1007/s10533-018-0477-3

A novel organic-rich meteoritic clast from the outer solar system
journal, February 2019


Nanoscale infrared imaging analysis of carbonaceous chondrites to understand organic-mineral interactions during aqueous alteration
journal, January 2019

  • Kebukawa, Yoko; Kobayashi, Hanae; Urayama, Norio
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1816265116

Heating experiments of the Tagish Lake meteorite: Investigation of the effects of short-term heating on chondritic organics
journal, September 2018

  • Chan, Queenie H. S.; Nakato, Aiko; Kebukawa, Yoko
  • Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 54, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1111/maps.13193

Organics preserved in anhydrous interplanetary dust particles: Pristine or not?
journal, November 2019

  • Chan, Queenie H. S.; Franchi, Ian A.; Zhao, Xuchao
  • Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 55, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1111/maps.13414

A novel organic-rich meteoritic clast from the outer solar system
journal, February 2019