FRANC THE GREAT
JF-Expert Member
- May 27, 2016
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It is one of the most torrid environments on Earth.
What makes the Earth habitable?
It has the right chemical ingredients for life, including water and carbon. But European scientists have recently discovered a place on Earth where no one can live.
Scientists have confirmed the absence of microbial life in hot, saline, hyperacid ponds in the Dallol geothermal field in Ethiopia.
According to a study, certain microorganisms can develop in such multi-extreme environment. The study led authors to present this place as an example of the limits that life can support, and even to propose it as a terrestrial analogue of early Mars.
But a new study by the French-Spanish team of scientists led by biologist Purificación Lopez Garcia of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) suggests that there is no life in Dallol’s multi-extreme ponds.
Lopez Garcia said,
The results of the study were confirmed by using different methods like the massive sequencing of genetic markers to detect and classify microorganisms, microbial culture attempts, fluorescent flow cytometry to identify individual cells, chemical analysis of brines and scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray spectroscopy.
López García cautioned,
Scientists particularly discovered two physical-chemical barriers that prevent the presence of living organisms in ponds: the abundance of chaotropic magnesium salts (an agent that breaks hydrogen bridges and denatures biomolecules) and the simultaneous confluence of hypersaline, hyperacid and high-temperature conditions.
The study helps to circumscribe the limits of habitability and demands caution when interpreting morphological biosignatures on Earth and beyond. Meanwhile, one should not rely on the apparently cellular or “biological” aspect of a structure, because it could have an abiotic origin.
The study also presented an evidence that there are places on the Earth’s surface, such as the Dallol pools, which are sterile even though they contain liquid water. Meanwhile, the presence of liquid water on a planet, which is often used as a habitability criterion, doesn’t necessarily means that it has life.
Lopez Garcia said,
Scientists are continuing to investigate the extreme environment of Dallol.
Hyperacid, hypersaline and hot ponds in the geothermal field of Dallol (Ethiopia). Despite the presence of liquid water, this multi-extreme system does not allow the development of life, according to a new study. The yellow-greenish colour is due to the presence of reduced iron / Puri López-García.
Tech Explorist
What makes the Earth habitable?
It has the right chemical ingredients for life, including water and carbon. But European scientists have recently discovered a place on Earth where no one can live.
Scientists have confirmed the absence of microbial life in hot, saline, hyperacid ponds in the Dallol geothermal field in Ethiopia.
According to a study, certain microorganisms can develop in such multi-extreme environment. The study led authors to present this place as an example of the limits that life can support, and even to propose it as a terrestrial analogue of early Mars.
But a new study by the French-Spanish team of scientists led by biologist Purificación Lopez Garcia of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) suggests that there is no life in Dallol’s multi-extreme ponds.
Lopez Garcia said,
The results of the study were confirmed by using different methods like the massive sequencing of genetic markers to detect and classify microorganisms, microbial culture attempts, fluorescent flow cytometry to identify individual cells, chemical analysis of brines and scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray spectroscopy.
López García cautioned,
Scientists particularly discovered two physical-chemical barriers that prevent the presence of living organisms in ponds: the abundance of chaotropic magnesium salts (an agent that breaks hydrogen bridges and denatures biomolecules) and the simultaneous confluence of hypersaline, hyperacid and high-temperature conditions.
The study helps to circumscribe the limits of habitability and demands caution when interpreting morphological biosignatures on Earth and beyond. Meanwhile, one should not rely on the apparently cellular or “biological” aspect of a structure, because it could have an abiotic origin.
The study also presented an evidence that there are places on the Earth’s surface, such as the Dallol pools, which are sterile even though they contain liquid water. Meanwhile, the presence of liquid water on a planet, which is often used as a habitability criterion, doesn’t necessarily means that it has life.
Lopez Garcia said,
Scientists are continuing to investigate the extreme environment of Dallol.
Hyperacid, hypersaline and hot ponds in the geothermal field of Dallol (Ethiopia). Despite the presence of liquid water, this multi-extreme system does not allow the development of life, according to a new study. The yellow-greenish colour is due to the presence of reduced iron / Puri López-García.
Tech Explorist