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Isotopic Analysis Reveals Origins of Organic Matter in Martian Sediments

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Thursday, May 16, 2024

Studies on Mars’ Gale Crater sediments show unique organic compositions that suggest atmospheric influences, highlighting non-biological processes in organic matter formation. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.comMars’ ancient geological features suggest the presence of water in the past, and recent studies of sediments from Gale Crater reveal organic matter with unique isotopic compositions, pointing to atmospheric processes, not biological activity, as the source of this organic material.Mars’ Geological PastAlthough Mars presents a barren, dusty landscape with no signs of life so far, its geological features such as deltas, lakebeds, and river valleys strongly suggest a past where water once flowed abundantly on its surface. To explore this possibility, scientists examine sediments preserved near these formations. The composition of these sediments holds clues about the early environmental conditions, the processes that shaped the planet over time, and even potential signs of past life.Insights From Gale CraterIn one such analysis, sediments collected by the Curiosity rover from Gale Crater, believed to be an ancient lake formed approximately 3.8 billion years ago due to an asteroid impact, revealed organic matter. However, this organic matter had a significantly lower amount of the carbon-13 isotope (13C) relative to carbon-12 isotopes (12C) compared to what is found on Earth, suggesting different processes of organic matter formation on Mars. The atmospheric origin of organic matter suggests that Mar surfaces may contain larger amounts of organic compounds than previously anticipated. Credit: Tokyo TechNew Research FindingsNow, a study elucidates this discrepancy, finding that the photodissociation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to carbon monoxide (CO) and subsequent reduction result in organic matter with depleted 13C content. The research, led by Professor Yuichiro Ueno from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Professor Matthew Johnson from the University of Copenhagen, was published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 9, 2024.“On measuring the stable isotope ratio between 13C and 12C, the Martian organic matter has a 13C abundance of 0.92% to 0.99% of the carbon that makes it up. This is extremely low compared to Earth’s sedimentary organic matter, which is about 1.04%, and atmospheric CO2, around 1.07%, both of which are biological remnants, and are not similar to the organic matter in meteorites, which is about 1.05%,” explains Ueno.Isotopic Fractionation on MarsEarly Mars had an atmosphere rich in CO2 containing both 13C and 12C isotopes. The researchers simulated different conditions of the Martian atmosphere’s composition and temperature in laboratory experiments. They found that when 12CO2 is exposed to solar ultraviolet (UV) light, it preferentially absorbs UV radiation, leading to its dissociation into CO depleted in 13C, leaving behind CO2 enriched in 13C.This isotopic fractionation (separation of isotopes) is also observed in the upper atmospheres of Mars and Earth, where UV irradiation from the Sun causes CO2 to dissociate into CO with depleted 13C content. In a reducing Martian atmosphere, CO transforms into simple organic compounds such as formaldehyde and carboxylic acids. During the early Martian era, with surface temperatures close to the freezing point of water and not exceeding 300 K (27°C), these compounds may have dissolved in water and settled in sediments.Implications for Martian SedimentsUsing model calculations, the researchers found that in an atmosphere with a CO2 to CO ratio of 90:10, a 20% conversion of CO2 to CO would lead to sedimentary organic matter with δ13CVPDB values of -135‰. Also, the remaining CO2 would be enriched in 13C with δ13CVPDB values of +20‰. These values closely match those seen in sediments analyzed by the Curiosity rover and estimated from a Martian meteorite. This finding points to an atmospheric process rather than a biological one as the main source of organic matter formation on early Mars.“If the estimation in this research is correct, there may be an unexpected amount of organic material present in Martian sediments. This suggests that future explorations of Mars might uncover large quantities of organic matter,” says Ueno.Reference: “Synthesis of 13C-depleted organic matter from CO in a reducing early Martian atmosphere” by Yuichiro Ueno, Johan A. Schmidt, Matthew S. Johnson, Xiaofeng Zang, Alexis Gilbert, Hiroyuki Kurokawa, Tomohiro Usui and Shohei Aoki, 9 May 2024, Nature Geoscience.DOI: 10.1038/s41561-024-01443-z

Mars’ ancient geological features suggest the presence of water in the past, and recent studies of sediments from Gale Crater reveal organic matter with unique...

Mars Ancient Arid Landscape

Studies on Mars’ Gale Crater sediments show unique organic compositions that suggest atmospheric influences, highlighting non-biological processes in organic matter formation. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Mars’ ancient geological features suggest the presence of water in the past, and recent studies of sediments from Gale Crater reveal organic matter with unique isotopic compositions, pointing to atmospheric processes, not biological activity, as the source of this organic material.

Mars’ Geological Past

Although Mars presents a barren, dusty landscape with no signs of life so far, its geological features such as deltas, lakebeds, and river valleys strongly suggest a past where water once flowed abundantly on its surface. To explore this possibility, scientists examine sediments preserved near these formations. The composition of these sediments holds clues about the early environmental conditions, the processes that shaped the planet over time, and even potential signs of past life.

Insights From Gale Crater

In one such analysis, sediments collected by the Curiosity rover from Gale Crater, believed to be an ancient lake formed approximately 3.8 billion years ago due to an asteroid impact, revealed organic matter. However, this organic matter had a significantly lower amount of the carbon-13 isotope (13C) relative to carbon-12 isotopes (12C) compared to what is found on Earth, suggesting different processes of organic matter formation on Mars.

Decoding Martian Organic Matter Origins: Insights From Isotopic Analysis

The atmospheric origin of organic matter suggests that Mar surfaces may contain larger amounts of organic compounds than previously anticipated. Credit: Tokyo Tech

New Research Findings

Now, a study elucidates this discrepancy, finding that the photodissociation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to carbon monoxide (CO) and subsequent reduction result in organic matter with depleted 13C content. The research, led by Professor Yuichiro Ueno from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Professor Matthew Johnson from the University of Copenhagen, was published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 9, 2024.

“On measuring the stable isotope ratio between 13C and 12C, the Martian organic matter has a 13C abundance of 0.92% to 0.99% of the carbon that makes it up. This is extremely low compared to Earth’s sedimentary organic matter, which is about 1.04%, and atmospheric CO2, around 1.07%, both of which are biological remnants, and are not similar to the organic matter in meteorites, which is about 1.05%,” explains Ueno.

Isotopic Fractionation on Mars

Early Mars had an atmosphere rich in CO2 containing both 13C and 12C isotopes. The researchers simulated different conditions of the Martian atmosphere’s composition and temperature in laboratory experiments. They found that when 12CO2 is exposed to solar ultraviolet (UV) light, it preferentially absorbs UV radiation, leading to its dissociation into CO depleted in 13C, leaving behind CO2 enriched in 13C.

This isotopic fractionation (separation of isotopes) is also observed in the upper atmospheres of Mars and Earth, where UV irradiation from the Sun causes CO2 to dissociate into CO with depleted 13C content. In a reducing Martian atmosphere, CO transforms into simple organic compounds such as formaldehyde and carboxylic acids. During the early Martian era, with surface temperatures close to the freezing point of water and not exceeding 300 K (27°C), these compounds may have dissolved in water and settled in sediments.

Implications for Martian Sediments

Using model calculations, the researchers found that in an atmosphere with a CO2 to CO ratio of 90:10, a 20% conversion of CO2 to CO would lead to sedimentary organic matter with δ13CVPDB values of -135‰. Also, the remaining CO2 would be enriched in 13C with δ13CVPDB values of +20‰. These values closely match those seen in sediments analyzed by the Curiosity rover and estimated from a Martian meteorite. This finding points to an atmospheric process rather than a biological one as the main source of organic matter formation on early Mars.

“If the estimation in this research is correct, there may be an unexpected amount of organic material present in Martian sediments. This suggests that future explorations of Mars might uncover large quantities of organic matter,” says Ueno.

Reference: “Synthesis of 13C-depleted organic matter from CO in a reducing early Martian atmosphere” by Yuichiro Ueno, Johan A. Schmidt, Matthew S. Johnson, Xiaofeng Zang, Alexis Gilbert, Hiroyuki Kurokawa, Tomohiro Usui and Shohei Aoki, 9 May 2024, Nature Geoscience.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-024-01443-z

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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‘Lead and Copper’ Shows How Water Poisoning Runs Downhill

A new documentary about the Flint water crisis draws out the complexities of the problem.

“There’s a definite sense of people being expendable in this country,” says University of Florida professor Riché Barnes in director William Hart’s new film, Lead and Copper. “And it usually runs across racial lines. When it gets outside of racial lines, it runs on economic lines.” Barnes’s observation underscores the moral clarity that Hart brings to his investigation of the Flint water crisis, which exposed an entire community to high levels of lead through contaminated drinking water. That clarity helps cut through the morass of finger-pointing and misinformation that various politicians and bureaucrats use to abdicate responsibility. Lead and Copper reminds viewers that these decisions threaten people’s lives. Although just forty miles from Lake Huron, Flint, a post-industrial city whose population has dwindled to a nearly 100-year low, has been getting its water via a pipeline through Detroit since 1967. To lower its water costs, the city contracted the construction of its own pipeline in 2013. The pipeline would not finish construction until 2018, so in 2014, the city started taking from the nearby, heavily polluted Flint River instead of continuing to draw from Detroit. Very soon, mothers such as Janae Young started noticing the strange color of their water and the sores and rashes that appeared on the bodies of their children. The film follows Young through the process of caring for her children, even after their burns subside. She spreads lotion on their bodies, takes them to numerous check-ups, and boils water before using it—at least until yet another functionary informs her that boiling is ineffective against contamination. Young and other residents report the problems to their local government, which is overseen by various state and federal agencies.  The course of action should be simple, right? Instead of using clean, if expensive, water from Detroit, the city started getting cheaper, poisoned water from the Flint River. Surely, then, one of the multiple oversight agencies in place would just order Flint to keep getting its water from Detroit until its own pipeline project is completed. But as Lead and Copper reveals, no one in power pursued a simple solution. Instead, governors, city managers, and regulators alike evaded responsibility and let the citizens suffer. Hart identifies a number of key culprits, including an unelected city manager appointed by Michigan’s plutocrat governor, an intentionally unrepresentative water sampling process by the state’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and a lack of diligence from the federal EPA. The city only begins providing bottled water and testing kits to citizens after mother LeeAnne Walters marshals help from Federal EPA manager Miguel Del Toral and Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards to draw attention to the problem. Together, Walters and Del Toral demanded that city officials stop using the polluted water and provide emergency provisions for Flint Residents. Hart employs several on-screen graphics to help clarify the crisis, including a sleek line-art map of the United States and animation illustrating the passage of time. As the camera pans across the map, the narrative turns its attention away from Flint to similarly affected neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., in which the full scope of the problem is revealed. These visual elements don’t just provide clarification; they also underscore the complicated nature of the problem. One of the film’s most effective moments shows then governor of Michigan Rick Snyder at a Congressional hearing about the crisis in Flint, in which the late Representative Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, questions Snyder about the extent of his knowledge about the crisis in Flint. As the film features Snyder’s testimony, a simultaneous graphic element reveals that someone close to the governor raised concerns much earlier. With every spin of the dial, and with every expansion on the map, viewers see in clear, unmistakable terms what various government officials and politicians have tried to obscure: that the water poisoning started after the city manager, the mayor, or someone in government made a cost-saving decision, and the adverse effects flowed down to the most vulnerable. While Lead and Copper’s complex representation of the crisis often works to underscore the movie’s point that the least powerful suffer the most, the narrative sometimes gets unnecessarily muddy. The film’s talking heads include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, two figures with far more influence than the mothers of afflicted children. The film allows both of these leaders to speak for themselves, rarely provides overt fact checks to their explanations, and therefore seems to endorse their claims that they, too, were duped by bureaucrats above them and helpless to change things. Lead and Copper also gets muddled when Edwards begins diagnosing the problems. Like a good professor, he shows the viewers physical evidence of the water poisoning, such as the thick lead pipes used in the houses of most Flint residents. He explains in simple terms that lead from the pipes seeps into the water unless certain chemicals are used, and that Flint neglected to use these chemicals. Edwards’s explanation makes sense, but he’s introducing a problem independent of the decision to get water from the Flint River. The use of lead pipes helps connect the problems of Flint to those of Newark, Washington, D.C., and several other locations listed in the movie’s final title cards. But without distinguishing between water poisoned because of pollution in the Flint River and water poisoned because of lead pipes that have been in place for decades, these revelations introduce issues beyond the city’s water source, unnecessarily complicating Lead and Copper’s central line of argument. In fact, all of the connections between Flint, Newark, and Washington, D.C. feel more like appendices than they do expansions of the film’s central theme. With so many people actively trying to obfuscate the facts, these instances can sometimes create more confusion than clarity. Despite these occasional problems, Lead and Copper is ultimately about the affected community members. The film reminds viewers that we are not helpless against structures that allow the powerful to carelessly poison Black and low-income families. The film might end in a terrifying set of statistics about counties across the country with high levels of lead in their water systems, but we first see footage of Janae Young educating an elementary class about recycling and LeeAnne Walters vowing to continue the fight. There’s much work to be done, but Lead and Copper can bring others along. Given the many held unaccountable and the work yet to be done in Flint, it’s not accurate to say that Lead and Copper has a happy ending. But when we see people working to save lives and deliver justice, viewers cannot help but believe that they can turn the flow of even a poisoned river. Lead and Copper is available to rent on streaming services everywhere starting Tuesday, November 19. Joe George is a pop culture writer whose work has appeared in Polygon, Slate, Den of Geek, and elsewhere. You can follow him on Twitter at @jageorgeii and read more at joewriteswords.com. Read more by Joe George November 21, 2024 2:13 PM

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Goodbye Microplastics: New Recyclable Plastic Breaks Down Safely in Seawater

A new durable, biodegradable plastic developed by researchers breaks down in seawater, offering a potential solution to microplastic pollution. This material, based on supramolecular structures, can be tailored for different uses and is fully recyclable, enhancing its environmental benefits. New Sustainable Plastic Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science [...]

A new durable, biodegradable plastic developed by researchers breaks down in seawater, offering a potential solution to microplastic pollution. This material, based on supramolecular structures, can be tailored for different uses and is fully recyclable, enhancing its environmental benefits. New Sustainable Plastic Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science [...]

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Scientists identify previously unknown compound in drinking water

An international team of scientists have discovered a previously unknown compound that is prevalent in U.S. drinking water, sparking concern about potential public health risks. The mystery compound is called "chloronitramide anion," which forms from the decomposition of inorganic chloramines — disinfectants used to safeguard people from diseases like typhoid and cholera, the researchers found...

An international team of scientists have discovered a previously unknown compound that is prevalent in U.S. drinking water, sparking concern about potential public health risks. The mystery compound is called "chloronitramide anion," which forms from the decomposition of inorganic chloramines — disinfectants used to safeguard people from diseases like typhoid and cholera, the researchers found in a study, published on Thursday in Science. In the United States alone, more than 113 million people, or about a third of the country's population, drink chloraminated water, or water that contains these disinfectants, according to the study authors. While the toxicity of chloronitramide anion is still unknown, the researchers expressed alarm about both its prevalence and its similarities to other problematic substances. "Its presence is expected, quite honestly, in all chlorinated drinking waters to some extent, because of the chemistry," senior author David Wahman, an environmental engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency, said during a press call prior to the article's publication. "It has similarity to other toxic molecules," Wahman added. The authors therefore emphasized an urgent need for further research to evaluate whether the chemical poses a public health risk, stressing that merely identifying the compound was a challenge. "Because this compound's so small, we couldn't really break it apart," co-author Juliana Laszakovits, a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, said in the press call. "The fragments that formed weren't able to be detected by the mass spectrometer." But by combining classic synthesis methods with advanced analytical techniques, including both high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, the scientists were ultimately able to isolate and identify chloronitramide anion. They measured the compound's concentration content in a range of chloraminated U.S. water systems, detecting levels as high as about 100 micrograms per liter — surpassing most regulatory limits for other disinfection by-products, which hover between 60 and 80 micrograms per liter. The researchers also noticed that the compound was absent from water systems that use disinfectants other than chloramines. Lead author Julian Fairey, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Arkansas, stressed in a statement that even if the new compound is not toxic, there is much knowledge to gain from their study and future related research. “Finding it can help us understand the pathways for how other compounds are formed, including toxins," Fairey added. "If we know how something is formed, we can potentially control it.”

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