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2010 Annual Science Report

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Reporting  |  SEP 2009 – AUG 2010

Executive Summary

Introduction
Our NAI investigators are members of the New York Center for Astrobiology (NYCA www.origins.rpi.edu), based at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in partnership with the University at Albany, Syracuse University, the University of Arizona, and the University of North Dakota. Our team joined the NAI in Spring 2009, following the selection of our CAN5 proposal “Setting the stage for life: From interstellar clouds to early Earth and Mars”. Prior to this, we had a long history of NASA-funded research at RPI in areas relevant to astrobiology, most notably as a NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in Origins of Life (1998-2006). Our current research as a member of the NAI is devoted to elucidating the origins of both life itself and of habitable planetary environments, in our own solar system and in planet-forming regions around other stars. We use a ... Continue reading.

Field Sites
12 Institutions
7 Project Reports
40 Publications
2 Field Sites
Roadmap
Objectives

Project Reports

  • Project 6: The Environment of the Early Earth

    This project involves the development of capabilities that will allow scientists to obtain information about the conditions on early Earth (3.0 to 4.5 billion years ago) by performing chemical analyzes of crystals (minerals) that have survived since that time. When they grow, minerals incorporate trace concentrations of ions and gaseous molecules from the local environment. We are conducting experiments to calibrate the uptake of these “impurities” that we expect to serve as indicators of temperature, moisture, oxidation state and atmosphere composition. To date, our focus has been mainly on zircon (ZrSiO4), but we have recently turned our attention to quartz as well.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 4.3
  • Project 5: Vistas of Early Mars: In Preparation for Sample Return

    To understand the history of life in the solar system requires knowledge of how hydrous minerals form on planetary surfaces, and the role these minerals play in the development of potential life forms. One hydrous mineral found on Earth and inferred from in situ measurements on Mars, is the mineral Jarosite, KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6. We are investigating whether radiometric ages, specifically 40Ar/39Ar ages on jarosite can be interpreted to accurately record climate change events on Mars. This project not only requires understanding the conditions required for jarosite formation and preservation on planetary surfaces, but also assessing under what conditions its “radiometric clock” can be reset (e.g., during changes in environmental conditions such as temperature). By studying jarosites formed by a variety of processes on Earth, we will be prepared to analyze and properly interpret ages measured from jarosite obtained from future Mars sample return missions.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 7.1
  • Project 4: Impact History in the Earth-Moon System

    The influx of interplanetary debris onto the early Earth represents a major hazard to the emergence of life. Large crater-forming bodies must have been common in the early solar system, as craters are seen on all ancient solid surfaces from Mercury to the moons of the outer planets. Impact craters are few in number on the Earth today only because geologic activity and erosion gradually erase them. The Earth’s nearest neighbor, the Moon, lacks an atmosphere and significant tectonic activity, and therefore retains a record of past impacts. The goal of our research is to reconstruct the bombardment history of the Moon, and by proxy the Earth, to establish when the flux of sterilizing impacts declined sufficiently for the Earth to became habitable.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.3
  • Project 3: Pathways for Exogenous Organic Matter to the Early Earth and Mars

    This project focuses on investigating the asteroidal contribution of organic molecules to the terrestrial planets in the early Solar System – molecules that may have contributed to the rise of life on Earth and potentially on Mars. Some types of meteorites contain significant amounts of organic compounds, including amino acids. These compounds are presumed to have formed by non-biological processes, either in the solar nebula (with subsequent incorporation into asteroids during their formation), or within the asteroids themselves by liquid water acting on the original minerals. Fragments from asteroids arrive at the Earth (and Mars) at comparably low velocities and can efficiently deliver intact organic molecules to the surfaces of these planets.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1
  • Project 1: Interstellar Origins of Preplanetary Matter

    Interstellar space is rich in the raw materials required to build planets and life, including essential chemical elements (H, C, N, O, Mg, Si, Fe, etc.) and compounds (water, organic molecules, planet-building minerals). This research project aims to characterize the composition and structure of these materials and the chemical pathways by which they form and evolve. The long-term goal is to determine the inventories of proto-planetary disks around young sun-like stars, leading to a clear understanding of the processes that led to our own origins and insight into the probability of life-supporting environments emerging around other stars.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1
  • Project 2: Processing of Precometary Ices in the Early Solar System

    The discovery of numerous planetary systems still in the process of formation gives us a unique opportunity to glimpse how our own solar system may have formed 4.6 billion years ago. Our goal is to test the hypothesis that the building blocks of life were synthesized in space and delivered to the early Earth by comets and asteroids. We use computers to simulate shock waves that energize the gas and dust in proto-planetary disks and drive physical and chemical processes that would not otherwise occur. Our work seeks specifically to determine (i) whether asteroids and comets were heated to temperatures that favor prebiotic chemistry; and (ii) whether the requisite heating mechanisms operate in other planetary systems forming today.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.2
  • Project 7: Prebiotic Chemical Catalysis on Early Earth and Mars

    The “RNA World” hypothesis is the current paradigm for the origins of terrestrial life. Our research is aimed at testing a key component of this paradigm: the efficiency with which RNA molecules form and grow under realistic conditions. We are studying abiotic production and polymerization of RNA by catalysis on montmorillonite clays. The catalytic efficiency of different montmorillonites are determined and compared, with the goal of determining which properties distinguish good catalysts from poor catalysts. We are also investigating the origin of montmorillonites, to test their probable availability on the early Earth and Mars, and the nature of catalytic activity that could have led to chiral selectivity on Earth.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2

Education & Public Outreach

Publications

  • Cook, A. M., Whittet, D. C. B., Shenoy, S. S., Gerakines, P. A., White, D. W., & Chiar, J. E. (2011). THE THERMAL EVOLUTION OF ICES IN THE ENVIRONMENTS OF NEWLY FORMED STARS: THE CO 2 DIAGNOSTIC. The Astrophysical Journal, 730(2), 124. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/730/2/124

  • Fukue, T., Tamura, M., Kandori, R., Kusakabe, N., Hough, J. H., Bailey, J., … Hashimoto, J. (2010). Extended High Circular Polarization in the Orion Massive Star Forming Region: Implications for the Origin of Homochirality in the Solar System. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 40(3), 335–346. doi:10.1007/s11084-010-9206-1

  • Harada, N., Herbst, E., & Wakelam, V. (2010). A NEW NETWORK FOR HIGHER-TEMPERATURE GAS-PHASE CHEMISTRY. I. A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ACCRETION DISKS IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. The Astrophysical Journal, 721(2), 1570–1578. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/721/2/1570

  • Müller, T., Cherniak, D., & Bruce Watson, E. (2012). Interdiffusion of divalent cations in carbonates: Experimental measurements and implications for timescales of equilibration and retention of compositional signatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 84, 90–103. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2012.01.011

  • Shenoy, S. S., Whittet, D. C. B., Ives, J. A., & Watson, D. M. (2008). A Catalog of Background Stars Reddened by Dust in the Taurus Dark Clouds. ASTROPHYS J SUPPL S, 176(2), 457–466. doi:10.1086/533532

  • Tailby, N. D., Walker, A. M., Berry, A. J., Hermann, J., Evans, K. A., Mavrogenes, J. A., … Sutton, S. R. (2011). Ti site occupancy in zircon. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75(3), 905–921. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2010.11.004

  • Trail, D., Bruce Watson, E., & Tailby, N. D. (2012). Ce and Eu anomalies in zircon as proxies for the oxidation state of magmas. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 97, 70–87. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2012.08.032

  • Trail, D., Thomas, J. B., & Watson, E. B. (2010). The incorporation of hydroxyl into zircon. American Mineralogist, 96(1), 60–67. doi:10.2138/am.2011.3506

  • Wakelam, V., Herbst, E., Le Bourlot, J., Hersant, F., Selsis, F., & Guilloteau, S. (2010). Sensitivity analyses of dense cloud chemical models. A&A, 517, A21. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913856

  • Whittet, D. C. B. (2010). OXYGEN DEPLETION IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM: IMPLICATIONS FOR GRAIN MODELS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTAL OXYGEN. The Astrophysical Journal, 710(2), 1009–1016. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/710/2/1009

  • Whittet, D. C. B., Goldsmith, P. F., & Pineda, J. L. (2010). THE UPTAKE OF INTERSTELLAR GASEOUS CO INTO ICY GRAIN MANTLES IN A QUIESCENT DARK CLOUD. The Astrophysical Journal, 720(1), 259–265. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/720/1/259

  • Zellner, N. E. B., Delano, J. W., Swindle, T. D., Barra, F., Olsen, E., & Whittet, D. C. B. (2009). Evidence from 40Ar/39Ar ages of lunar impact glasses for an increase in the impact rate ∼800Ma ago. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73(15), 4590–4597. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.04.027

  • Ciolek, G.E. & Roberge, W.G.  (To Be Submitted).  Magnetohydrodynamic shock waves and signal speeds in weakly ionized, dusty interstellar clouds with a distribution of grain radii.  Astrophysical Journal.
  • Ciolek, G.E. & Roberge, W.G.  Hydromagnetic signal speeds in weakly ionized, dusty interstellar clouds including a distribution of grain radii.  217th Meeting of of the American Astronomical Society.
  • Ciolek, G.E. & Roberge, W.G.  Hydromagnetic signal speeds in weakly ionized, dusty interstellar clouds including a distribution of grain radii.  Fall, 2010 Meeting of the Astronomical Society of NY.
  • Cloutis, E.A., Hiroi, T., Gaffey, M.J. & Mann, P.  (2010).  Spectral Reflectance Properties of CI1 Carbonaceous Chondrites.  73rd Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting.  New York City.
  • Cook, A.M., Whittet, D.C.B., Horne, D.J., Gerakines, P.A. & Shenoy, S.S.  (2010).  The Evolution of Interstellar Ices Near Young Stellar Objects.  AbSciCon 2010.
  • Hassel, G. & Herbst, E.  Molecular formation in dense core precursors.  NAI Workshop Without Walls: The Organic Continuum from the Interstellar Medium to the Early Solar System.
  • Horne, D.  (2010).  Ice in the Dark Cloud L134N.  NAI Workshop Without Walls: The Organic Continuum from the Interstellar Medium to the Early Solar System.
  • Katz, M.P., Ciolek, G.E. & Roberge, W.G.  (2010).  Driven hydromagnetic waves in dusty interstellar clouds.  Fall, 2010 Meeting of the Astronomical Society of NY.
  • Katz, M.P., Ciolek, G.E. & Roberge, W.G.  Driven hydromagnetic waves in dusty interstellar clouds.  217th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
  • Menzel, R.L. & Roberge, W.G.  Magnetic heating of primitive solar system bodies.  217th Meeting of of the American Astronomical Society.
  • Mojzsis, S.J., Cates, N.L., Maier, A.C., Abramov, O., Trail, D., Bleeker, W. & Guitreau, M.  (2010).  To see the Headean in a slab of gneiss.  AGU 2010.  San Francisco, California, USA.
  • Müller, T., Cherniak, D. & Watson, E.B.  (2010).  Application of Diffusion Data in Carbonates to Estimate Timescales and Conditions of Texture Forming Processes.  EOS Trans. AGU, 90.
  • Roberge, W.G. & Ciolek, G.E.  (2010).  Molecular line emission from multifluid, magnetohydrodynamic shock waves.  Scientific Opportunities for New Instrumentation.  Asilomar, CA.
  • Roberge, W.G. & Ciolek, G.E.  (2010, In Press).  Magnetic fields and the origin and habitability of planetary systems.  Encyclopedia of Astrobiology.
  • Roberge, W.G. & Menzel, R.L.  (To Be Submitted).  Magnetic heating of primitive solar system bodies.  Astrophysical Journal.
  • Roberge, W.G.  (2010).  Electrodynamic heating of asteroids and planetesimals.  Fall, 2010 Meeting of the Astronomical Society of NY.
  • Roberge, W.G., Ciolek, G.E., Katz, M.P. & Singh, P.  (2010).  Thermal processing of precometary ices in shock waves.  NAI Workshop Without Walls.
  • Roberge, W.G., Katz, M.P. & Ciolek, G.E.  (In Preparation).  Driven waves in a dusty plasma.
  • Tailby, N., Thomas, J.B. & Watson, E.G.  (2010).  Trace elements in quartz: experimental constraints on Al, Ti, Fe and P saturation.  Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 74(12): A1020.
  • Trail, D., Thomas, J.B. & Watson, E.B.  (2009).  OH in zircon.  Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 73(13): A1343.
  • Trail, D., Watson, E.B. & Tailby, N.  (2010).  Melt composition and oxygen fugacity influence on Ce and Eu anomalies in zircon.  GSA 2010.  Denver, Colorado USA.
  • Trail, D., Watson, E.B. & Tailby, N.  (2010).  New experimental constraints for Hadean zircon source melts from Ce and Eu anomalies in zircon.  AGU 2010.  San Francisco, California, USA.
  • Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010).  Reservoirs of Oxygen in Interstellar Clouds.  AbSciCon 2010.
  • Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010).  The Circular Polarization Model for Enantiomeric Excesses in the early Solar System.  NAI Workshop Without Walls: The Organic Continuum from the Interstellar Medium to the Early Solar System.
  • Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010).  The Oxygen Budget of the Interstellar Medium.  NAI Workshop Without Walls: The Organic Continuum from the Interstellar Medium to the Early Solar System.
  • Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010, In Press).  Interstellar Dust.  Encyclopedia of Astrobiology.  Springer.
  • Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010, In press).  Interstellar Ices.  Encyclopedia of Astrobiology.  Springer.
  • Zellner, N.E.B., Delano, J.W., Swindle, T.D. & Whittet, D.C.B.  (2010).  Lunar Impact Glasses: What are They Telling Us?  AbSciCon 2010.

2010 Teams