Heat flows solubilize apatite to boost phosphate availability for prebiotic chemistry

Thomas Matreux, Almuth Schmid, Mechthild Rappold, Daniel Weller, Ayşe Zeynep Çalışkanoğlu, Kelsey R. Moore, Tanja Bosak, Donald B. Dingwell, Konstantin Karaghiosoff, François Guyot, Bettina Scheu, Dieter Braun and Christof B. Mast ()
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Thomas Matreux: Ludwig Maximilians University
Almuth Schmid: Ludwig Maximilians University
Mechthild Rappold: Ludwig Maximilians University
Daniel Weller: Ludwig Maximilians University
Ayşe Zeynep Çalışkanoğlu: Ludwig Maximilians University
Kelsey R. Moore: Johns Hopkins University
Tanja Bosak: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Donald B. Dingwell: Ludwig Maximilians University
Konstantin Karaghiosoff: Ludwig Maximilians University
François Guyot: Sorbonne Université
Bettina Scheu: Ludwig Maximilians University
Dieter Braun: Ludwig Maximilians University
Christof B. Mast: Ludwig Maximilians University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Phosphorus is an essential building block of life, likely since its beginning. Despite this importance for prebiotic chemistry, phosphorus was scarce in Earth’s rock record and mainly bound in poorly soluble minerals, with the calcium-phosphate mineral apatite as key example. While specific chemical boundary conditions have been considered to address this so-called phosphate problem, a fundamental process that solubilizes and enriches phosphate from geological sources remains elusive. Here, we show that ubiquitous heat flows through rock cracks can liberate phosphate from apatite by the selective removal of calcium. Phosphate’s strong thermophoresis not only achieves its 100-fold up-concentration in aqueous solution, but boosts its solubility by two orders of magnitude. We show that the heat-flow-solubilized phosphate can feed the synthesis of trimetaphosphate, increasing the conversion 260-fold compared to thermal equilibrium. Heat flows thus enhance solubility to unlock apatites as phosphate source for prebiotic chemistry, providing a key to early life’s phosphate problem.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57110-3

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