Geologically produced (abiotic) molecular hydrogen and methane could be widely utilized by microbial communities in surface and subsurface environments. These microbial communities can, therefore, have a potentially significant impact on the net emissions of H2 and CH4 to Earth’s ocean and atmosphere. Abiotic H2 and CH4 could enable microbial communities to exist in rock-hosted environments and hydrothermal systems with little or no input from photosynthetic carbon fixation, making these communities potential analogs for the earliest metabolisms on Earth (or other planetary bodies). The possible dependence of rock-hosted ecosystems on H2 and CH4 should factor into current and future plans for engineering the subsurface for storage of these compounds as energy fuels.
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Research Article|
February 01, 2020
Abiotic Hydrogen and Methane: Fuels for Life
Bénédicte Ménez
Université de Paris, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France
E-mail: menez@ipgp.fr
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Elements (2020) 16 (1): 39–46.
Article history
first online:
05 Mar 2020
Citation
Bénédicte Ménez; Abiotic Hydrogen and Methane: Fuels for Life. Elements 2020;; 16 (1): 39–46. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.16.1.39
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- aliphatic hydrocarbons
- alkanes
- Archaea
- basalts
- biochemistry
- biogenic processes
- biosphere
- DNA
- ecosystems
- Eh
- energy
- eukaryotes
- genome
- geochemical cycle
- geothermal systems
- hydrocarbons
- hydrogen
- hydrothermal vents
- igneous rocks
- life origin
- metabolism
- metasomatism
- methane
- microorganisms
- nucleic acids
- organic compounds
- peridotites
- plutonic rocks
- serpentinization
- ultramafics
- underground storage
- volcanic rocks
- molecular hydrogen
- chemolithotrophic taxa
- abiotic processes
- deep biosphere
- Bacteria
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