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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">BGD</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Biogeosciences Discussions</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">BGD</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Biogeosciences Discuss.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1810-6285</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name></publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/bgd-3-23-2006</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Comets, carbonaceous meteorites, and the origin of the biosphere</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hoover</surname>
<given-names>r. b.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Astrobiology Laboratory, NASA/National Space Science and Technology Center, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>27</day>
<month>01</month>
<year>2006</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>3</volume>
<issue>1</issue>
<fpage>23</fpage>
<lpage>70</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2006 r. b. Hoover</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2006</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://bg.copernicus.org/preprints/3/23/2006/bgd-3-23-2006.html">This article is available from https://bg.copernicus.org/preprints/3/23/2006/bgd-3-23-2006.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://bg.copernicus.org/preprints/3/23/2006/bgd-3-23-2006.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://bg.copernicus.org/preprints/3/23/2006/bgd-3-23-2006.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The Biosphere is considered to represent the Earth&apos;s crust, atmosphere,
oceans, and ice caps and the living organisms that survive within this
habitat. This paper considers the significance of comets and carbonaceous
meteorites to the origin and evolution of the Biosphere and presents new
Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) images of indigenous
microfossils in the Orgueil and Murchison meteorites. The discovery of
microbial extremophiles in deep crustal rocks, hydrothermal vents and
ancient ice has established that the biosphere is far more extensive than
previously recognized. Chemical and molecular biomarkers and microfossils in
Archaean rocks indicate that life appeared very early on the primitive Earth
and the origin of the biosphere is closely linked with the emergence of
life. The role of comets, carbonaceous meteorites, interstellar dust and
asteroids in the delivery of water, organics and prebiotic chemicals to
Earth during the Hadean (4.5&amp;ndash;3.8 Ga) period of heavy bombardment has become
more widely recognized. Spacecraft observations of the chemical compositions
and characteristics of the nuclei of several comets (Halley, Borrelly, Wild
2, and Tempel 1) have established that comets contain complex organic
chemicals; that water is the predominant volatile; and that high temperatures
(~400 K) can be reached on the black (albedo~0.03) nuclei when
near perihelion. The microscopic dust particles in the Tempel 1 ejecta are similar in size
to the particulates of the Orgueil meteorite and evidence is mounting that
comets may represent the parent bodies of the CI meteorites. Impact craters
and pinnacles on comet Wild 2 suggest a thick crust. Episodic outbursts and
jets of Halley, Borrelly, Wild 2 and Tempel 1 near perihelion indicate that
localized regimes of liquid water may periodically exist beneath the thick
crust of many comets. This increases the possibility that microbial life
might survive in comets and therefore the widely accepted view that comets are devoid of
liquid water and therefore sterile may be invalid. Consequently, the potential role of
comets in the possible delivery of viable microorganisms, as well as water
and organic chemicals, to Earth merits further consideration. FESEM
investigations of CI and CM carbonaceous meteorites have resulted in the
detection of well-preserved remains of large, complex and highly
differentiated filamentous microfossils, mats, and consortia embedded in
freshly fractured interior surfaces of the rock matrix. Energy Dispersive
X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) data indicate that these remains are mineralized
and consequently they are interpreted to represent indigenous microfossils
rather than recent microbial contaminants. The detection of indigenous
microfossils in carbonaceous meteorites suggests that the paradigm of the
endogenous origin of life on Earth may also require reconsideration.</p>
</abstract>
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