Theoretical Organic Geochemistry of Submarine Hydrothermal Systems

本研究将通过水/无机物/有机物复杂体系中可逆和不可逆过程的独立热力学模型来检验几种关于有机转化的假设。 （1）海岭热液系统附近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、水解歧化和亚稳平衡的途径来解释，并采用基于不可逆热力学的模型。 (2)海洋溶解有机质在海底热液系统中受热后，转变为具有特征的一系列简单有机溶质。 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，为异养超嗜热菌提供支持。 (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，这些反应途径加速了热液有机化合物中记录的转化。

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.