Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO2

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat5118

Title: Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO ₂

Abstract

The sources and nature of organic carbon on Mars have been a subject of intense research. Steele et al. (2012) showed that 10 martian meteorites contain macromolecular carbon phases contained within pyroxene- and olivine-hosted melt inclusions. Here, we show that martian meteorites Tissint, Nakhla, and NWA 1950 have an inventory of organic carbon species associated with fluid-mineral reactions that are remarkably consistent with those detected by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. We advance the hypothesis that interactions among spinel-group minerals, sulfides, and a brine enable the electrochemical reduction of aqueous CO ₂ to organic molecules. Although documented here in martian samples, a similar process likely occurs wherever igneous rocks containing spinel-group minerals and/or sulfides encounter brines.

Authors:

^[1];

^[2]; Wirth, R. ^[3];

^[4]; Fries, M. D. ^[5];

^[1];

^[6];

^[7]; Schreiber, A. ^[3];

^[8];

^[1]; McCubbin, F. M. ^[5];

^[9];

^[10]

Carnegie Inst. for Science, Washington, DC (United States)
German Research Centre for Geosciences, GFZ, Telegrafenberg (Germany); Free University of Berlin (Germany); University of Leeds (United Kingdom)
German Research Centre for Geosciences, GFZ, Telegrafenberg (Germany)
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Stockholm (Sweden)
NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (United States)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
USRA–Science and Technology Institute, Huntsville, AL (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
University of Leeds (United Kingdom); Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

Publication Date:: 2018-10-31

Research Org.:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

OSTI Identifier:: 1494088

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Science Advances

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAAS

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 58 GEOSCIENCES; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats


                    Steele, A., Benning, L. G., Wirth, R., Siljeström, S., Fries, M. D., Hauri, E., Conrad, P. G., Rogers, K., Eigenbrode, J., Schreiber, A., Needham, A., Wang, J. H., McCubbin, F. M., Kilcoyne, D., and Rodriguez Blanco, Juan Diego. Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO2.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
        Web.  doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat5118.

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                    Steele, A., Benning, L. G., Wirth, R., Siljeström, S., Fries, M. D., Hauri, E., Conrad, P. G., Rogers, K., Eigenbrode, J., Schreiber, A., Needham, A., Wang, J. H., McCubbin, F. M., Kilcoyne, D., & Rodriguez Blanco, Juan Diego. Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO2.  United States.  doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat5118.

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                    Steele, A., Benning, L. G., Wirth, R., Siljeström, S., Fries, M. D., Hauri, E., Conrad, P. G., Rogers, K., Eigenbrode, J., Schreiber, A., Needham, A., Wang, J. H., McCubbin, F. M., Kilcoyne, D., and Rodriguez Blanco, Juan Diego. Wed .  
        "Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO2".  United States.  doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat5118.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1494088.

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@article{osti_1494088,

  title        = {Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO2},

  author       = {Steele, A. and Benning, L. G. and Wirth, R. and Siljeström, S. and Fries, M. D. and Hauri, E. and Conrad, P. G. and Rogers, K. and Eigenbrode, J. and Schreiber, A. and Needham, A. and Wang, J. H. and McCubbin, F. M. and Kilcoyne, D. and Rodriguez Blanco, Juan Diego},

  abstractNote = {The sources and nature of organic carbon on Mars have been a subject of intense research. Steele et al. (2012) showed that 10 martian meteorites contain macromolecular carbon phases contained within pyroxene- and olivine-hosted melt inclusions. Here, we show that martian meteorites Tissint, Nakhla, and NWA 1950 have an inventory of organic carbon species associated with fluid-mineral reactions that are remarkably consistent with those detected by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. We advance the hypothesis that interactions among spinel-group minerals, sulfides, and a brine enable the electrochemical reduction of aqueous CO2 to organic molecules. Although documented here in martian samples, a similar process likely occurs wherever igneous rocks containing spinel-group minerals and/or sulfides encounter brines.},

  doi          = {10.1126/sciadv.aat5118},

  journal      = {Science Advances},

  number       = 10,

  volume       = 4,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {10}

}

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DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat5118

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Works referenced in this record:

Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Various Metal Electrodes in Low-Temperature Aqueous KHCO₃ Media
journal, January 1990

Azuma, Masashi; Hashimoto, Kazuhito; Hiramoto, Masahiro
Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 137, Issue 6, p. 1772-1778
DOI: 10.1149/1.2086796

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Title: Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO 2

Abstract

Citation Formats

Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Various Metal Electrodes in Low-Temperature Aqueous KHCO3 Media journal, January 1990

Title: Organic synthesis on Mars by electrochemical reduction of CO ₂

Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Various Metal Electrodes in Low-Temperature Aqueous KHCO₃ Media
journal, January 1990