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Conference paperNeedham AW, Smith CL, Howard KT, et al., 2009,
GAMMA IRRADIATION EFFECTS IN MARS ANALOGUES
, 72nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical-Society, Publisher: METEORITICAL SOC, Pages: A155-A155, ISSN: 1086-9379 -
Journal articleSephton MA, Visscher H, Looy CV, et al., 2009,
Chemical constitution of a Permian-Triassic disaster species
, GEOLOGY, Vol: 37, Pages: 875-878, ISSN: 0091-7613One of the most controversial biological proxies of environmental crisis at the close of the Permian is the organic microfossil Reduviasporonites. The proliferation of this disaster species coincides with the mass extinction and numerous geochemical disturbances. Originally Reduviasporonites was assigned to fungi, opportunistically exploiting dying end-Permian forests, but subsequentgeochemical data have been used to suggest an algal origin. We have used high-sensitivity equipment, partly designed to detect interstellar grains in meteorites, to reexamine the geochemical signature of Reduviasporonites. Organic chemistry, carbon and nitrogen isotopes, and carbon/nitrogen ratios are consistent with a fungal origin. The use of this microfossil as a marker of terrestrial ecosystem collapse should not be merely discounted. Unequivocally diagnostic data, however, may have been precluded by post-burial replacement of its organic constituents.
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Journal articleGomes RL, Meredith W, Snape CE, et al., 2009,
Analysis of conjugated steroid androgens: Deconjugation, derivatisation and associated issues
, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, Vol: 49, Pages: 1133-1140, ISSN: 0731-7085Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is the preferred technique for the detection of urinary steroid androgens for drug testing in athletics. Excreted in either the glucuronide or sulfated conjugated form, steroids must first undergo deconjugation followed by derivatisation to render them suitable for GC analysis. Discussed herein are the deconjugation and the derivatisation preparative options. The analytical challenges surrounding these preparatory approaches, in particular the inability to cleave the sulfate moiety have led to a focus on testing protocols that reply on glucuronide conjugates. Other approaches which alleviate the need for deconjugation and derivatisation are also highlighted.
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Journal articleBlyth AJ, Watson JS, 2009,
Thermochemolysis of organic matter preserved in stalagmites: a preliminary study
, Organic Geochemistry, Vol: 40, Pages: 1029-1031The analysis of organic matter (OM) preserved in stalagmites is a growing field, but there have been few studies of biomarker compounds such as lignin phenols that are widely used in other palaeoenvironmental contexts. Here we present a preliminary qualitative study of the OM in six stalagmite samples from contrasting environments, using thermochemolysis in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The results indicate that a wide variety of products is preserved, including several potential lignin-derived compounds, but also that further research is needed to maximise compound recovery and allow the analysis of dissolved OM preserved in stalagmites to reach its full potential.
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Journal articleNicoara S, Tonidandel L, Traldi P, et al., 2009,
Determining the levels of volatile organic pollutants in urban air using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method
, Journal of Environmental and Public HealthThe paper presents the application of a method based on coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, using an isotopically labelled internal standard for the quantitative analysis of benzene (B), toluene (T), ethyl benzene (E), and o-, m-, p-xylenes (X). Their atmospheric concentrations were determined based on short-term sampling, in different sites of Cluj-Napoca, a highly populated urban centre in N-W Romania, with numerous and diversified road vehicles with internal combustion engines. The method is relatively inexpensive and simple and shows good precision and linearity in the ranges of 7–60 μg/m3 (B), 13–90 μg/m3 (T), 7–50 μg/m3 (E), 10–70 μg/m3 (X-m,p), and 20–130 μg/m3 (X-o). The limits of quantitation/detection of the method LOQ/LOD are of 10/5 μg/m3 (Xo), 5/3 μg/m3 (B, E, X-m,p), and of 3/1 μg/m3 (T), respectively.
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Journal articleCourt RW, Sephton MA, 2009,
Quantitative flash pyrolysis Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of organic materials
, Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol: 639, Pages: 62-66, ISSN: 0003-2670Thermal degradation is a common technique used to investigate the nature of organic materials. However, existing methods for the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) identification and quantification of volatile products from the thermal degradation of organic materials are limited to the technique of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)–FTIR, which utilizes relatively low heating rates. However, the thermal degradation products of organic materials are known to vary depending on the rate of heating, with lower heating rates of biomass associated with increased yields of solid char and decreased yields of volatiles, as well as a greater opportunity for secondary reactions between the residue and the pyrolysis products. Hence, it is difficult to relate the products of organic matter thermally degraded at <100 °C min−1 in TGA to the products of flash pyrolysis at up to 20,000 °C s−1. We have developed and applied a novel methodology for quantitative flash pyrolysis–FTIR analysis of the volatile pyrolysis products of organic-rich materials. Calibration curves of water, carbon dioxide and methane have been constructed and used to determine absolute volatile release from wood (ash, Lat. Fraxinus). This technique is quicker and simpler than comparable pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry techniques, and avoids errors associated with the lower rates of temperature increase associated with techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis.
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Journal articleCourt RW, Sephton MA, 2009,
Investigating the contribution of methane produced by ablating micrometeorites to the atmosphere of Mars
, EARTH PLAN SCI LETT, Vol: 288, Pages: 382-385, ISSN: 0012-821XThe presence of methane in the atmosphere of Mars has been suggested as evidence of life, as methane has a short lifetime in the atmosphere of Mars of just a few hundred years, requiring replacement by mechanisms, continuous or episodic, such as biology, volcanism, serpentinization of ultramafic crust or large cometary or asteroidal impacts. The potential of meteoritic infall to deliver significant quantities of methane is restricted by the low abundance of free methane in carbonaceous meteorites. However, the delivery of meteoritic material to the surface of a planet is an energetic process, and the ability of carbonaceous meteorites to generate methane upon ablation during atmospheric entry has not been previously considered. Here, we use analytical pyrolysis to simulate the ablation and pyrolysis of carbonaceous micrometeorites upon atmospheric entry, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to quantify the subsequent yield of methane. We show that ablation produces a yield of methane that is approximately two orders of magnitude greater than the measured free methane present in the CM2 carbonaceous chondrite, Murchison, but that this previously overlooked source of methane can only account for less than 10 kg of methane annually, a mass far below that required to maintain the abundance of methane observed in the atmosphere of Mars. Our data support attempts to search for life and explore subsurface chemical processes on the Red Planet.
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Journal articlePeeters Z, Quinn R, Martins Z, et al., 2009,
Habitability on planetary surfaces: interdisciplinary preparation phase for future Mars missions
, INT J ASTROBIOL, Vol: 8, Pages: 301-315, ISSN: 1473-5504Life on Earth is one of the outcomes of the formation and evolution of our solar system and has adapted to every explored environment on planet Earth. Recent discoveries have shown that life can exist in extreme environments, such as hydrothermal vents, in deserts and in ice lakes in Antarctica. These findings challenge the definition of the ‘planetary habitable zone’. The objective of future international planetary exploration programmes is to implement a long-term plan for the robotic and human exploration of solar system bodies. Mars has been a central object of interest in the context of extraterrestrial life. The search for extinct or extant life on Mars is one of the main goals of space missions to the Red Planet during the next decade. In this paper we describe the investigation of the physical and chemical properties of Mars soil analogues collected in arid deserts. We measure the pH, redox potential and ion concentrations, as well as carbon and amino acid abundances of soils collected from the Atacama desert (Chile and Peru) and the Salten Skov sediment from Denmark. The samples show large differences in their measured properties, even when taken only several meters apart. A desert sample and the Salten Skov sediment were exposed to a simulated Mars environment to test the stability of amino acids in the soils. The presented laboratory and field studies provide limits to exobiological models, evidence on the effects of subsurface mineral matrices, support current and planned space missions and address planetary protection issues.
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Journal articlePerry RS, Sephton MA, 2009,
Reply to comments on defining biominerals and organominerals: Direct and indirect indicators of life [Perry et al., Sedimentary Geology, 201, 157-179]
, SED GEOL, Vol: 213, Pages: 156-156, ISSN: 0037-0738 -
Book chapterMartins Z, Sephton MA, 2009,
Extraterrestrial amino acids
, Origins and Synthesis of Amino Acids., Editors: Hughes, Hughes, Weinheim, Publisher: Wiley-VCH, Pages: 3-42, ISBN: 9789783527324 -
Journal articleGomes RL, Meredith W, Snape CE, et al., 2009,
Conjugated steroids: analytical approaches and applications
, ANAL BIOANAL CHEM, Vol: 393, Pages: 453-458, ISSN: 1618-2642An introduction to conjugated steroids and the justification for their analysis is provided covering both environmental and biological samples. Determining conjugated steroids or indeed any organic chemical which is conjugated upon excretion from the body has relevance in diagnostic monitoring, forensic screening and environmental analysis (from the endocrine disrupter perspective). The various analytical approaches and the accompanying issues are application-dependent. There are numerous options at each stage of analysis, from extraction, hydrolysis, derivatisation, and detection, and advances can be confined to the specific application for which it was developed. Emphasis is placed on the choice of separation and how gas or liquid chromatography necessitates different preparative stages to enable conjugated steroid determination. Possible future directions and research for conjugated steroid analysis are discussed.
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Journal articleCourt RW, Sephton MA, 2009,
Meteorite ablation products and their contribution to the atmospheres of terrestrial planets: An experimental study using pyrolysis-FTIR
, GEOCHIM COSMOCHIM AC, Vol: 73, Pages: 3512-3521, ISSN: 0016-7037 -
Book chapterBougeard CMM, Janmohamed IHS, Goslan EH, et al., 2008,
Parameters affecting haloacetic acid and trihalomethane concentrations in treated UK drinking waters
, Occurrence, Formation, Health Effects, and Control of Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water, Editors: Karanfil, Krasner, Westerhoff, Xie, Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, Pages: 95-108, ISBN: 9780841269507 -
Conference paperNeedham AW, Smith CL, Sephton MA, et al., 2008,
Gamma irradiation effects on martian analogues
, Workshop on Antarctic Meteorites - Search, Recovery, and Classification, Publisher: METEORITICAL SOC, Pages: A114-A114, ISSN: 1086-9379 -
Conference paperMartins Z, Alexander CMO, Orzechowska GE, et al., 2008,
Amino acid composition of primitive CR2 chondrites
, Workshop on Antarctic Meteorites - Search, Recovery, and Classification, Publisher: METEORITICAL SOC, Pages: A90-A90, ISSN: 1086-9379- Author Web Link
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Journal articleMartins Z, Botta O, Fogel ML, et al., 2008,
Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite
, EARTH PLAN SCI LETT, Vol: 270, Pages: 130-136, ISSN: 0012-821XCarbon-rich meteorites, carbonaceous chondrites, contain many biologically relevant organic molecules and delivered prebiotic material to the young Earth. We present compound-specific carbon isotope data indicating that measured purine and pyrimidine compounds are indigenous components of the Murchison meteorite. Carbon isotope ratios for uracil and xanthine of δ13C=+44.5‰ and +37.7‰, respectively, indicate a non-terrestrial origin for these compounds. These new results demonstrate that organic compounds, which are components of the genetic code in modern biochemistry, were already present in the early solar system and may have played a key role in life's origin.
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Journal articleSephton MA, Botta O, 2008,
Extraterrestrial organic matter and the detection of Life
, SPACE SCI REV, Vol: 135, Pages: 25-35, ISSN: 1572-9672A fundamental goal of a number of forthcoming space missions is the detection and characterization of organic matter on planetary surfaces. Successful interpretation of data generated by in situ experiments will require discrimination between abiogenic and biogenic organic compounds. Carbon-rich meteorites provide scientists with examples of authentic extraterrestrial organic matter generated in the absence of life. Outcomes of meteorite studies include clues to protocols that will enable the unequivocal identification of organic matter derived from life. In this chapter we summarize the diagnostic abiogenic features of key compound classes involved in life detection and discuss their implications for analytical instruments destined to fly on future spacecraft missions.
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Journal articleBada JL, Ehrenfreund P, Grunthaner F, et al., 2008,
Urey: Mars organic and oxidant detector
, SPACE SCI REV, Vol: 135, Pages: 269-279, ISSN: 1572-9672One of the fundamental challenges facing the scientific community as we enter this new century of Mars research is to understand, in a rigorous manner, the biotic potential both past and present of this outermost terrestrial-like planet in our solar system. Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector has been selected for the Pasteur payload of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ExoMars rover mission and is considered a fundamental instrument to achieve the mission’s scientific objectives. The instrument is named Urey in recognition of Harold Clayton Urey’s seminal contributions to cosmochemistry, geochemistry, and the study of the origin of life. The overall goal of Urey is to search for organic compounds directly in the regolith of Mars and to assess their origin. Urey will perform a groundbreaking investigation of the Martian environment that will involve searching for organic compounds indicative of life and prebiotic chemistry at a sensitivity many orders of magnitude greater than Viking or other in situ organic detection systems. Urey will perform the first in situ search for key classes of organic molecules using state-of-the-art analytical methods that provide part-per-trillion sensitivity. It will ascertain whether any of these molecules are abiotic or biotic in origin and will evaluate the survival potential of organic compounds in the environment using state-of-the-art chemoresistor oxidant sensors.
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Book chapterGounell M, Morbidelli A, Bland PA, et al., 2008,
Meteorites from the Outer Solar System?
, The Solar System Beyond Neptune, Editors: Baruchi MA, Boenhardt H, Cruikshank DP, Morbidelli A, Barucci MA, Boehnhardt H, Cruikshank DP, Morbidelli A, Tucson, Arizona, Publisher: The University of Arizona Press, Pages: 525-541, ISBN: 978-0-8165-2755-7 -
Journal articleSephton MA, Carvell RP, Sims MR, et al., 2008,
The UK’s search for life on Mars
, ASTRON GEOPHYS, Vol: 49, Pages: 33-36, ISSN: 1366-8781
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