The rocky road to organics needs drying

Muriel Andreani (), Gilles Montagnac, Clémentine Fellah, Jihua Hao, Flore Vandier, Isabelle Daniel, Céline Pisapia, Jules Galipaud, Marvin D. Lilley, Gretchen L. Früh Green, Stéphane Borensztajn and Bénédicte Ménez
Additional contact information
Muriel Andreani: CNRS UMR5276, ENS de Lyon, LGL-TPE
Gilles Montagnac: CNRS UMR5276, ENS de Lyon, LGL-TPE
Clémentine Fellah: CNRS UMR5276, ENS de Lyon, LGL-TPE
Jihua Hao: University of Science and Technology of China
Flore Vandier: CNRS UMR5276, ENS de Lyon, LGL-TPE
Isabelle Daniel: CNRS UMR5276, ENS de Lyon, LGL-TPE
Céline Pisapia: CNRS UMR 7154
Jules Galipaud: CNRS UMR 5513, 36
Marvin D. Lilley: University of Washington
Gretchen L. Früh Green: ETH Zurich
Stéphane Borensztajn: CNRS UMR 7154
Bénédicte Ménez: CNRS UMR 7154

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract How simple abiotic organic compounds evolve toward more complex molecules of potentially prebiotic importance remains a missing key to establish where life possibly emerged. The limited variety of abiotic organics, their low concentrations and the possible pathways identified so far in hydrothermal fluids have long hampered a unifying theory of a hydrothermal origin for the emergence of life on Earth. Here we present an alternative road to abiotic organic synthesis and diversification in hydrothermal environments, which involves magmatic degassing and water-consuming mineral reactions occurring in mineral microcavities. This combination gathers key gases (N2, H2, CH4, CH3SH) and various polyaromatic materials associated with nanodiamonds and mineral products of olivine hydration (serpentinization). This endogenous assemblage results from re-speciation and drying of cooling C–O–S–H–N fluids entrapped below 600 °C–2 kbars in rocks forming the present-day oceanic lithosphere. Serpentinization dries out the system toward macromolecular carbon condensation, while olivine pods keep ingredients trapped until they are remobilized for further reactions at shallower levels. Results greatly extend our understanding of the forms of abiotic organic carbon available in hydrothermal environments and open new pathways for organic synthesis encompassing the role of minerals and drying. Such processes are expected in other planetary bodies wherever olivine-rich magmatic systems get cooled down and hydrated.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36038-6

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