Descripción del proyecto
Una investigación prepara el terreno para estudiar la habitabilidad de mundos oceánicos del Sistema Solar
Los metales redox, como el hierro, el níquel, el cobre y el manganeso que se originaron en interfaces de aguas profundas, desempeñaron un papel fundamental en la evolución de los ciclos biogeoquímicos y la vida de la Tierra. Las reacciones químicas que hay detrás del metabolismo ―procesos que tienen lugar en los organismos vivos para mantener la vida― podrían haberse formado espontáneamente en los océanos de la Tierra. Las reacciones que tienen lugar en el agua se vieron aceleradas por catalizadores metálicos y nanopartículas. En el proyecto financiado con fondos europeos DeepTrace, se creará un marco mecanicista, analítico y predictivo revolucionario para describir la movilización de los catalizadores metálicos por las interfaces redox marinas de la Tierra. Una mejor comprensión de la catálisis de los metales redox suboceánicos, que sustenta la evolución de los ecosistemas en los océanos terrestres, ayudará a los investigadores a estudiar la habitabilidad de mundos oceánicos del Sistema Solar.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesnatural satellites
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeochemistrybiogeochemistry
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedInstitución de acogida
06800 Ankara
Turquía