Theoretical Organic Geochemistry of Submarine Hydrothermal Systems

本研究将通过在复杂的水/矿物/有机系统中可逆和不可逆过程的独立热力学模型来测试关于有机转化的几个假设。拟验证的假设包括：(1)热液热脊系统加热沉积物中固体和液体有机化合物的转化可以用水蚀变、水解分馏和基于不可逆热力学模型的亚稳平衡方法来解释。(2)海洋溶解有机质在海底热液系统中受热后转变为具有特征的简单有机溶质组合。这些化合物在高温下被驱动到亚稳态，但当喷口流体与海水混合时，它们为异养型超嗜热微生物提供了支持。(3)由于耦合的电子转移过程，存在涉及无机和有机硫化合物的反应途径，加速了水热有机化合物的转化。

This study will test several hypotheses about organic transformations through independent thermodynamic models of reversible and irreversible processes in comples water/mineral/organic systems. The hypotheses to be tested include: (1) The transformation of solid and liquid organic compounds in heated sediments near ridge hydrothermal systems can be interpreted in terms of aqueous alteration, hydrolytic disporportionation, and the approach towar metastable equilibria using models based on irreversible thermodynamics. (2) Marine dissolved organic matter is altered into characteristic suites of simple organic solutes when heated in submarine hydrothermal systems. These compounds are driven toward metastable states at high temperature, but provide support for heterotrophic hyperthermophiles when vent fluids mix with seawater. (3) Owing to coupled electron-transfer processes, there are reaction pathways involving inorganic and organic sulfur compounds that expedite the transformations documented in hydrothermal organic compounes.