Sources of Organic Compounds in Submarine Hot-Springs: An Experimental Investigation

海底温泉中有机化合物的来源：实验研究

• 批准号: 0647800
• 负责人: Jeffrey Seewald
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-04-01 至 2010-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0647800&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Sources; Organic; Compounds; Submarine; Hot

Intellectual Merit: Aqueous carbon species in hydrothermal vent fluids have important implications for carbon fluxes to the ocean, biological communities that inhabit vent environments, and the origin of life. Although several organic compounds have been identified in hydrothermal fluids, their origin as either biotic or abiotic is unclear. This research uses laboratory experiments at high temperatures and elevated pressures to assess the chemical and isotopic composition of organic assemblages produced by these two processes. A focus of the work is the carbon and hydrogen isotopic signature of pure gas-phase Fischer-Tropsch type (FT) reactions, abiotic surface catalyzed reactions that have been invoked to explain the presence of pre-biotic hydrocarbons in natural environments. Hydrous pyrolysis experiments will be carried out at buffered hydrothermal pressure and temperature conditions using three types of microbial biomass using seawater dissolved organic carbon that is observed to have depleted concentrations in high-temperature hydrothermal fluids relative to seawater. Resulting isotopic and compositional data will be used to identify potential pyrolysis products in hydrothermal systems that have, to date, been overlooked. Broader Impacts: This research supports a postdoctoral researcher and will engage undergraduates in research. At no cost to this proposal, an undergraduate from Bridgewater State College, a four-year public undergraduate institution, will be intimately involved with the experimental design process and the subsequent analytical efforts, under mentorship by the PIs.

知识价值：热液喷口流体中的水碳物种对流向海洋的碳通量、居住在喷口环境中的生物群落以及生命的起源具有重要影响。尽管已经在热液流体中发现了几种有机化合物，但它们的生物或非生物来源尚不清楚。这项研究使用高温和高压下的实验室实验来评估这两个过程产生的有机组合的化学和同位素组成。这项工作的重点是纯气相Fischer-Tropsch类型(FT)反应的碳和氢同位素特征，这是一种非生物表面催化反应，已被用来解释自然环境中生物前碳氢化合物的存在。将在缓冲的水热压力和温度条件下使用三种类型的微生物生物质进行水合热解实验，使用海水溶解的有机碳，这些有机碳在高温热液中相对于海水具有贫化的浓度。由此产生的同位素和成分数据将被用来确定水热系统中迄今被忽视的潜在热解产物。更广泛的影响：这项研究支持博士后研究人员，并将吸引本科生参与研究。布里奇沃特州立学院是一所四年制的公立本科院校，该学院的一名本科生将在私人投资机构的指导下，在这项提议的免费情况下，密切参与实验设计过程和随后的分析工作。