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Astrobiology and Cryovolcanism

How ice volcanoes might be key to finding life on other planets.

By Fabian de KerckhovePublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Astrobiology and Cryovolcanism
Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

Those two science words might seem big, but really, they're deceptively simple. That's just what makes this string of facts and theories so great.

Space is cold, and so are many objects in it - planets, moons, asteroids. That's especially true the farther from the sun they are.

Yet, did you know that some of those objects are so cold they can be completely covered in ice? What about objects dotted with volcanoes that erupt in methane, ammonia, and ice? Some such volcanoes which are so powerful, that as fantastic NASA scientists explain regarding the dwarf planet Ceres, erupt(ed) that material out into space:

Now, as you may have presumed, cryovolcano simply means "ice" (cryo-) "volcano". To planetary scientists, however, it means a lot more, and to volcanologists, it is an important distinction from earthbound "ice volcanoes", such as examples found in Lake Michigan or Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, which infamously erupted in 2010.

By Tomáš Malík on Unsplash

The key distinction is that those "ice volcanoes" on Earth are volcanoes wherein their magma (underground lava) interacts with surface ice and water. This can lead to a process called phreatomagmatism, which can result in lahars due to highly effusive steam-infused explosions, which, though interesting, is not our topic today. A key difference is in silicates (common to most volcanoes) and ammonia (cryovolcanoes).

Our topic today combines the awesome science of galactic cryovolcanism with the search for life. Astrobiology is the field concerned with studying life and living things (biology) related to stars, space, and celestial bodies (astro-). In other words, that enticing search for life beyond Earth.

By Donald Giannatti on Unsplash

Titanic they may be (a 90-mile (150km) wide, 2.5-mile (4km) high was recently named Wright Mons after the eponymous inventors on dwarf planet Pluto; Tolkien-named Doom and Erebor Mons on the moon Titan are over 1km high) but what do cryovolcanoes potentially mean for astrobiology?

(In this discussion I will also acknowledge the similarly incredible ice geysers, such as found on the moons Enceladus and Triton, which suggest comparable results).

Well, geochemical samples (minerals, chemicals, and other compounds) from some of these icy plumes are proposed to contain, at least the potential, for the formation of molecules such as complex amino acids.

Essentially, amino acids are the monomers, or building blocks, of proteins. Proteins are key to life, and key to the primordial soup theory which predicts how life begun on Earth. Ultimately, the potential for amino acids can mean the potential for life to evolve. Or, perhaps, can signify that life may have evolved already.

By Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

A little more lightning, heat, chaos, and a lot less complex organic matter and you're getting the picture from the image above...

One such candidate from which samples have been collected is also one of the smoothest objects in the solar system. That is Jupiter's large icy moon called Europa. It is this way thanks to its icy surface. But one pivotal characteristic of water, and therefore ice, is how its density works. Water is most dense at 4 °C, which means anything colder floats on top. Think about your local lake in wintertime.

By David Wirzba on Unsplash

Life continues underneath. That is a vital aspect of water.

So, back to Europa. Planetary resurfacing, as courtesy of cryovolcanic activity as well as the incorporation of space dust has led to the icy crust of the moon suggesting impurities. These impurities could be related to tholins - an astrobiological molecule that can hint at the early stages of complex life. Ultimately, these tholins could spur prebiotic chemistry and the beginnings of new life.

Perhaps one day Earthlings will make contact with Europans? Europeans and Europans; I'm sure there's something there. Or perhaps scientists might find the aliens of Enceladus, a moon that fulfils much of the "checklist" for life. Though, those Europans will likely look more like this:

By Michael Schiffer on Unsplash

than this:

By Diego Marín on Unsplash

I've brushed over a lot of the heavier science, but also some of the simpler. One major thing, if you know your biology from your chemistry, your science from your fiction, and a little natural history, is that almost all life is organic. Chemically, that means it contains carbon. Carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the galaxy.

However, life has also adapted, though simply, through another extremely abundant element, silicon. Such organisms are known as diatoms. They are interesting, if a little niche and a little less sci-fi than one might hope, and can be found blending silica from oxygen and silicon in seawater. Also, they are still, in origin, carbon-based. But as we said, silicon is related to standard volcanism, not so much cryovolcanism. Plus, all the life on Earth has some relation to water. For reasons more than the density of ice, water is an incredible compound, sometimes called the universal solvent.

Alternatives to carbon-based life are speculative. Hypotheses range from ammonia (a presence in cryovolcanism), borane, sulfur, arsene, and others.

In any case, I hope you learned a little about the icy alien cousins to our fearsome, awful, awe-inspiring volcanoes, and how they too might one too cook up, or freeze up, new life. I leave you with an astrobiological-themed quote:

A man that is of Copernicus’ Opinion, that this Earth of ours is a Planet, carry’d round and enlightn’d by the Sun, like the rest of them, cannot but sometimes have a fancy … that the rest of the Planets have their Dress and Furniture, nay and their Inhabitants too as well as this Earth of ours.… But we were always apt to conclude, that ’twas in vain to enquire after what Nature had been pleased to do there, seeing there was no likelihood of ever coming to an end of the Enquiry … but a while ago, thinking somewhat seriously on this matter (not that I count my self quicker sighted than those great Men [of the past], but that I had the happiness to live after most of them) me thoughts the Enquiry was not so impracticable nor the way so stopt up with Difficulties, but that there was very good room left for probable Conjectures.

(Christiaan Huygens, Early Modern Dutch Physicist, 1629-1695)

Thank you for reading!

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