Linked Life Data

10660689

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10660689

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-3-23
pubmed:abstractText
The location and density of biologically useful energy sources on Mars will limit the biomass, spatial distribution, and organism size of any biota. Subsurface Martian organisms could be supplied with a large energy flux from the oxidation of photochemically produced atmospheric H(2) and CO diffusing into the regolith. However, surface abundance measurements of these gases demonstrate that no more than a few percent of this available flux is actually being consumed, suggesting that biological activity driven by atmospheric H(2) and CO is limited in the top few hundred meters of the subsurface. This is significant because the available but unused energy is extremely large: for organisms at 30-m depth, it is 2,000 times previous estimates of hydrothermal and chemical weathering energy and far exceeds the energy derivable from other atmospheric gases. This also implies that the apparent scarcity of life on Mars is not attributable to lack of energy. Instead, the availability of liquid water may be a more important factor limiting biological activity because the photochemical energy flux can only penetrate to 100- to 1,000-m depth, where most H(2)O is probably frozen. Because both atmospheric and Viking lander soil data provide little evidence for biological activity, the detection of short-lived trace gases will probably be a better indicator of any extant Martian life.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-11539124, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-11539176, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-11541662, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-11542257, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-16535205, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-481874, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-5415125, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-8688069, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-9616115, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-9618454, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/10660689-9641910
pubmed:keyword
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0027-8424
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
97
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1395-9
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-9-13
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Atmospheric energy for subsurface life on Mars?
pubmed:affiliation
Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology, MS 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. bweiss@gps.caltech.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.