Natural radioactive enviroments as sources of local chemical disequilibrium and its potencial prebiotic aftercomes

• Grant number: 16/08854-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2016
• End date: February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Douglas Galante
• Grantee: Thiago Altair Ferreira
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Natural nuclear reactors have been described as natural geological arrangements containing fissile material and water in rocky environment, resulting in controlled chain nuclear reaction, which remained active for thousands or millions of years. These environments may have had a role in the process of emergence of life and evolution in the context of pre-Cambrian ecosystems becaus it provides energy necessary for chemical non-equilibrium. Currently, we know that in deep environments with radiolytic sources exits microbial lithoautotrophic species whose survival is independent of photosynthesis from sunlight. The proposal in this work, is to evaluate, analytically and numerically, physicochemical conditions and radiolytic energy sources and their effects on the habitability of these environments in the context of the early Earth, quantifying the amount of biologically usable energy and considering different sources chemical and physical disequilibrium. This evaluation is proposed to be made with reference to the similarity between these alkaline rediolytic microenvironment and alkaline hydrothermal vents, which has shown promising prebiotic potential. From this study we can analyze not only the prebiotic potential of these natural radioactive environments on the early Earth, but also, in future works, habitability in similar extraterrestrial environments such as the icy moons of Jupiter - Europa, Callisto and Ganymede - main targets for the next searches missions for life in the Solar System

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ALTAIR, THIAGO; SARTORI, LARISSA M.; RODRIGUES, FABIO; DE AVELLAR, MARCIO G. B.; GALANTE, DOUGLAS. Natural Radioactive Environments As Sources of Local Disequilibrium for the Emergence of Life. ASTROBIOLOGY, v. 20, n. 12, SEP 2020. (16/08854-7, 16/06114-6)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FERREIRA, Thiago Altair. Natural radioactive environments as a source of local disequilibrium in planetary and prebiotic scenarios. 2018. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC/BT) São Carlos.