Abstract Microorganisms deep in the Martian soil could derive energy indirectly from the sun via chemical reactions involving atmospheric photolysis products of the solar ultraviolet flux. The Viking discovery of a chemically uniform regolith which, though poor in organics, is rich in sulfur-containing compounds suggests reaction sequences in which sulfur is recycled through reduced and oxidized states by biologically catalyzed reactions with photochemically-produced atmospheric constitutents. One candidate reaction, reduction of soil sulfate minerals by molecular hydrogen, is already exploited on earth by bacteria of the ubiquitous and tenaciousDesulfovibrio genus.
Solar-driven chemical energy source for a Martian biota
Origins of life ; 9 , 3
1979
Article (Journal)
English
BKL: | 44.71 Verkehrsmedizin | |
Local classification TIB: | 535/3908/4290 |
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