Projektbeschreibung
Forschung ebnet den Weg zur Erkundung der Bewohnbarkeit von Ozeanen in unserem Sonnensystem
Redox-Metalle wie Eisen, Nickel, Kupfer und Mangan, die von den Grenzflächen der Tiefsee stammen, spielten bei der Entstehung der biogeochemischen Kreisläufe und des Lebens auf der Erde eine entscheidende Rolle. Die chemischen Reaktionen, die dem Stoffwechsel zugrundeliegen – Prozesse, die in lebenden Organismen ablaufen, um das Leben zu erhalten – sind möglicherweise spontan in den Ozeanen der Erde entstanden. Die im Wasser stattfindenden Reaktionen wurden durch Metallkatalysatoren und Nanopartikel beschleunigt. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt DeepTrace wird einen bahnbrechenden mechanistischen, analytischen und prädiktiven Rahmen für die Beschreibung der Mobilisierung von Metallkatalysatoren an den marinen Redox-Grenzflächen der Erde entwickeln. Ein besseres Verständnis der subozeanischen Metall-Redoxkatalyse, die der Entstehung der Ökosysteme in den Ozeanen der Erde zugrundeliegt, wird den Forschenden helfen, die Bewohnbarkeit der Ozeane in unserem Sonnensystem zu erkunden.
Ziel
Redox metals such as Fe, Mo, V, Ni, Cu and Mn, supplied from deep-sea interfaces, played a pivotal role in the coupled evolution of Earth's biogeochemical cycles and life. Accordingly, future search for life in Ocean Worlds of the Solar System will greatly benefit from going beyond parameters such as water and organics, and being able to detect signs of subsurface metal catalysis. As fundamental metabolism requires metal clusters and nanoparticles; their formation, detection and link to Earth’s ocean biogeochemical structure can pave the way for inference of metal catalysis from plume ejecta compositions of Ocean Worlds such as Europa and Enceladus. DeepTrace will advance a ground-breaking mechanistic, analytical and predictive framework on the nanoparticle-fuelled co-mobilization of catalyst metals across Earth's marine redox interfaces. The key idea is to establish the concept of sub-ocean metal redox catalysis underpinning the ecosystem evolution of Earth’s oceans and use it to explore habitability of Ocean Worlds. In DeepTrace we will conduct multidisciplinary sea expeditions to unravel how the six redox metals co-mobilize by studying Earth analogues such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents and suboxic/anoxic seas. Integrating state-of-the-art methods with emerging innovative approaches such as time-of-flight single-particle-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, we will advance the multi-element detection of nanoparticles. Finally, to build a predictive framework that will enable the estimation of nanoparticle fluxes from deep-sea boundaries and inferring the metabolic potential of Ocean Worlds, we will develop novel biogeochemical models. DeepTrace will tap the potential of tracing redox metals as one of best opportunities in the next decade for detecting life in Ocean Worlds, and accelerate improved parametrizations of metal cycles for better prediction of Earth’s marine ecosystems under multi-stressors such as deoxygenation, warming and biodiversity loss.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesnatural satellites
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeochemistrybiogeochemistry
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedGastgebende Einrichtung
06800 Ankara
Türkei