Abstract
Enceladus is an attractive place to look for signs of life thanks to liquid water and the availability of energy. Recent research has proven that the ejected material of Enceladus south pole consists of water vapor, water ice, carbon dioxide, methane and molecular hydrogen. Possible similarities of physical and chemical conditions between Enceladus ocean bottom and the carbonate mineral matrix of actively venting chimneys of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field give an opportunity to create a mathematical model of microbial ascent process through the ice shell. In this study we present first results of particle in-cell kinetic simulations of microbial distance through 10 km deep ocean. We have obtained results for microbial component—Methanosarcinales sp. analogue—characterized by 6.6 pg mass and 2.0 μm diameter distribution in Enceladus plumes. We have assumed 0.1 W m−2 heating process, 5 km ice shell and cells concentration near ocean bottom 105 cells/mL. We have confirmed assumption of Porco research team about cells concentration near ocean surface about 104 cells/mL and vertical density diversity in plumes. We have found that the optimal altitude for microbial component detection is less than 1.0 km and that in-situ measurements done previously by Cassini mass spectrometer and proposed for Enceladus Orbiter mission 50 km altitude would be ineffective.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
W. Balch, G. Fox, L. Magrum, et al., Microbiological. Rev. 61 (1), 81 (1979).
M. Bedrossian, C. Lindensmith, and J. Nadeau, Astrobiology 17 (9), 913 (2017).
W. J. Brazelton, K. A. Ludwig, M. L. Sogin, et al., Proc. Nat. Academy Sci. 107 (4), 1612 (2010).
W. J. Brazelton, M. O. Schrenk, D. S. Kelley, and J. A. Baross, Appl. Environmental Microbiology 72 (9), 6257 (2006).
G. W. Brindley, J. Mineralogical Soc. Japan 5 (4), 217 (1961).
M. L. Cable, L. J. Spilker, F. Postberg, etal., LPI Contr., No. 2042, id. 4124 (2017a).
M. L. Cable, J. I. Lunine, L. J. Spilker,et al., LPI Contr., No. 1964, id. 2577 (2017b).
A. Davila, C. McKay, D. Willson, et al., in Conditions in the Subsurface Ocean of Enceladus. White paper submitted to the Committee on an Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe (2018).
Y. Dong, T. Hill, and S. Ye, JGR Space Physics 120 (2), 915 (2014).
M. M. Hedman, D. Dhingra, P. D. Nicholson, et al., Icarus 305, 123 (2018).
M. M. Hedman, P. D. Nicholson, M. R. Showalter, et al., Astrophys. J. 693 (2), 1749 (2009).
C. Hildenbrand, T. Stock, C. Lange, et al., J. Bacteriology 193 (3), 734 (2011).
T. M. Hoehler, Metal Ions in Biological Systems 43, 9 (2005).
H. W. Hsu, F. Postberg, Y. Sekine, et al., Nature 519 (7542), 207 (2015).
L. Iess, D. Stevenson, M. Parisi, et al., Science 344 (6179), 78 (2014).
B. Jakosky and E. Shock, J. Geophys. Research 103 (S8), 19359 (1998).
A. Kahana, P. Schmitt-Kopplin, and D. Lancet, Astrobiology 19 (10), 1263 (2019).
S. Kempf, U. Beckmann, and J. Schmidt, Icarus 206 (2), 446 (2010).
K. A. Kubiak, J. Kotlarz, and A. M. Mazur, Polish J. Environmental Studies 25 (1) (2016).
M. A. Kubiak, Gwiazdy i materia międzygwiazdowa (Naukowe PWN, Warszwa, 1994) [in Polish].
J. Lunine, H. Waite, F. Postberg, et al., in Europ.Geosciences Union General Assembly Conf. Abstracts (Vienna, 2015).
C. McKay, C. Porco, T. Altheide, et al., Astrobiology 8 (5), 909 (2008).
C. Porco, L. Dones, and C. Mitchell, Astrobiology 17 (9), 876 (2017).
C. Porco, P. Helfenstein, P. Thomas, et al., Science, 311, 1393 (2006).
G. Proskurowski, M. Lilley, D. S. Kelley, and E. Olson, Chem. Geol. 229, 331 (2006).
J. Saur, N. Schilling, F. M. Neubauer, et al., Geophys. Research. Lett. 35 (20), L20105 (2008).
O. Shrenk, in Life in Extreme Environments, Vol. 5: Life at Vents and Seeps, Ed. by J. Kallmeyer (De Gruyter, Berlin, 2017), pp. 107–138.
N. Sleep, A. Meibom, T. Fridriksson, et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 101 (35), 12818 (2004).
J. Spencer, Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Enceladus Orbiter Mission Concept Study (United States National Research Council, Washington, 2010).
E. Steel, A. Davila, and C. McKay, Astrobiology 17 (9), 862 (2017).
B. Teolis and M. Perry, Astrobiology 17 (9), 926 (2017).
P. C. Thomas, R. Tajeddine, M. S. Tiscareno, et al.,Icarus 264, 37 (2016).
J. H. Waite, C. R. Glein, R. S. Perryman, et al., Science 356 (6334), 155 (2007).
S. A. Wright, B. Sherwood Lollar, S. Atreya, et al., Amer. Astron. Soc. Meet., No. 233, id. 432.03 (2019).
N. Zalewska, J. Kotlarz, M. Kacprzak, and T. Korniluk, Pomiary Automatyka Robotyka 21 (2017) [in Polish].
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by the Institute of Aviation. We thank our colleagues from Remote Sensing Division who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research. We thank Prof. Romana Ratkiewicz and Wojciech Konior for assistance with particle-in-cell simulations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kotlarz, J., Zielenkiewicz, U., Zalewska, N.E. et al. Microbial Component Detection in Enceladus Snowing Phenomenon. Astrophys. Bull. 75, 166–175 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S199034132002008X
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S199034132002008X