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Hollow organic globules in the Tagish Lake meteorite as possible products of primitive organic reactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2003

Kelko Nakamura ,
Michael E. Zolensky ,
Satoshi Tomita ,
Satoru Nakashima  and
Kazushige Tomeoka
Kelko Nakamura
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan e-mail: keiko@nc.scitec.kobe-u.ac.jp Current mailing address: Mailcode SR, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houstan, TX 77058, USA.
Michael E. Zolensky
Affiliation:
Office of Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
Satoshi Tomita
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan Nanomaterial Processing Laboratory, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Satoru Nakashima
Affiliation:
Interactive Research Center of Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8521, Japan
Kazushige Tomeoka
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan e-mail: keiko@nc.scitec.kobe-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

We report the first in situ observation of hollow organic globules in any extraterrestrial material using the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite. Data from analytical transmission electron microscopy, Raman and micro-Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicate that the globules consist of aliphatic and oxygenated functions. The hollow spherical morphologies are strikingly similar to the material produced by the laboratory simulation of ultraviolet photolysis of interstellar ice analogues and subsequent aqueous processing, suggesting that the organic globules in the Tagish Lake meteorite may be extremely primitive organic material that formed before or during the formation of the solar system. The FTIR organic signatures also show strong similarities to the membrane-like products formed from hydrothermal reaction of an OH-bearing amino acid in the presence of hydrous minerals. The survival of the structures in the Tagish Lake sample indicates that primitive meteorites must have delivered these structures to the early Earth as a possible precursor to life.

Keywords

carbonaceous chondritemembranemicro-FTIR spectroscopyorganicprecursor to lifeRaman spectroscopyTEM
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , July 2002 , pp. 179 - 189
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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