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Life in the Solar System

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Announcements

Quizzes quiz 6: due at 1 pm on Sunday, Mar 2


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Midterm exam marks available on OWL will discuss problem questions in class next time

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Todays Topics

Review of last lecture origins of life on Earth


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Evolution of life on Earth (Ch. 6.3, 6.5) Impacts and extinctions (Ch. 6.4) Life in the Solar System (Ch. 7)

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When did life begin?


Three lines of evidence that life began between 3.85 Byr and 3.0 Byr ago.
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stromatolites rocks characterized by a distinctive layered structure: evidence of life at least 3.5 Byr ago microfossils: suggests life originated 3.53.0 Byr ago isotopes of carbon: enhanced carbon-12 to carbon-13 ratio in 3.85 Byr old rocks
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Implications for life elsewhere


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Life arose shortly after the end of Heavy Bombardment ~3.9 Byr ago
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Life arouse rapidly on Earth, and could do so on another suitable world!

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Where did life begin?

Unlikely to have originated on land: no molecular oxygen (O2) in early atmosphere, so also no ozone (O3) to shield from UV Under-water or sub-surface environment more hospitable water blocks UV e.g., deep-sea volcanic vents also offer chemical energy for metabolic reactions
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How did life begin?

Concoction of water vapour, methane, and ammonia, with energy provided by electricity (lightning) can produce amino acids in a lab Miller-Urey experiment
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Other possible origins: near deep-sea vents organic material from space (meteorites, comets)
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Summary of Origin of Life Hypothesis: RNA World

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RNA replication can be contained within spontaneously forming lipid membranes

Keeping RNA molecules together increases likelihood of self-replication Isolation from outside preserves RNA and enzyme concentration: speeds up reactions natural selection-like
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Summary of Origin of Life Hypothesis: RNA World

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Todays Topics

Review of last lecture origins of life on Earth


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Evolution of life on Earth (Ch. 6.3) Impacts and extinctions (Ch. 6.4) Life in the Solar System (Ch. 7)

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The Evolution of Life


Our goals for learning: What major events have marked evolutionary history? Why was the rise of oxygen so important to evolution?

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What major events have marked evolutionary history?

Early microbes: simple organisms with a few enzymes and rudimentary metabolism resembling the simplest modern bacteria and archaea, no nucleus Oxygen-free atmosphere, so microbes were anaerobic Microbes likely were chemoautotrophs photosynthesis and ability to digest other organisms must have arrived later Modern parallels are archaea in hot sulphur springs
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Early Microbial Evolution

With limited sets of enzymes, early DNA replication was buggy: high mutation rate: rapid evolution e.g., photosynthesis is a complex metabolic process, but already suggested in stromatolites and microfossils 3.5 Byr ago. Photosynthesis process also likely evolved: first with development of light-absorbing pigments then with utilization of a variety of products: e.g., hydrogem sulphide (H2S), rather than water (H2O) Oxygen build-up: from photosynthetic organisms 2.50.5 Byr ago
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The Evolution of Eukarya

Oldest known fossils with clear cell nuclei date to 2.1 Byr ago. Could have arisen earlier, but cell nuclei do not fossilize well.
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What major events have marked evolutionary history?

Symbiotic relationship between eukarya and bacteria lead to complex cells, with mitochondria and/or chloroplasts confirmed by DNA sequencing of mitochondria and chloroplasts, which shows that they are from domain bacteria !16

The Cambrian Explosion


Animals characterized by their body plans or phyla. Mammals and reptiles are of the phylum Chordata : with internal skeletons Modern animals comprise ~30 phyla All 30 phyla arise during a period of only 40 Myr: <1% of Earths history 542 Myr ago
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The geological time scale

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The Cambrian Explosion


Is the only major diversification of phyla in the geological record Possible reasons: oxygen reached a critical level for survival of larger life-forms a tipping point in the evolution of genetic complexity and diversification climate change: end of snowball Earth period absence of efficient predators
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The Colonization of Land

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The Colonization of Land


First by microbes Then by plants originating from algae in shallow ponds occasional drying up of ponds favours mutations with thicker cell walls 475 Myr ago Animal organisms aided by the build-up of a protective ozone layer. by 400 Myr ago: amphibians and insects eating the plants
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Why was the rise of oxygen so important to evolution?

Oxygen can react strongly with organic molecules: deadly to unadapted organisms but much more efficient cellular energy production, with ATP, compared to anaerobic organisms Oxygen also reacts quickly with clays, rocks making them turn reddish would last only a few Myr if not replenished So, early atmosphere must have been oxygen-free cyanobacteria in the oceans created the atmospheric oxygen starting 2.7 Byr ago.
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Why was the rise of oxygen so important to evolution?

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What have we learned?

What major events have marked evolutionary history? development of photosynthesis as an energy-producing reaction by 3.5 Byr ago the build-up of atmospheric oxygen by cyanobacteria (2.50.5 Byr ago) the Cambrian explosion of animal diversity 542 Myr ago Why was the rise of oxygen so important to evolution? it offered a much more efficient energy production cycle than preceding anaerobic cycles.
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Human Evolution
Our goals for learning: How did we evolve? Are we still evolving?

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How did we evolve?

Not from chimpanzee s or other modern apes Instead, from a common ancestor with them
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The Emergence of Humankind

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The Emergence of Humankind

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The Emergence of Humankind

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Are we still evolving?


Changes over the past 10,00040,000 years have been relatively small. If we were to sequence the genome of a 40,000-old human, it would be difficult to distinguish from a that of a person living today Most substantial change is in average height better nutrition. Cultural and technological evolution are much faster exponential
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Todays Topics

Review of last lecture origins of life on Earth


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Evolution of life on Earth (Ch. 6.3, 6.5) Impacts and extinctions (Ch. 6.4) Life in the Solar System (Ch. 7)

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Impacts and Extinctions


Our goals for learning: Have we ever witnessed a major impact? Did an impact kill the dinosaurs? Is the impact threat a real danger or media hype?

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Image credit: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) was torn apart during an encounter with Jupiter in 1993. By early 1994, astronomers knew that it would collide with Jupiter later that year.
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Comet SL9 Crash into Jupiter

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Artists conception of SL9 impact


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Several impact sites


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Jupiter Hit Again!

July 20, 2009; NASA/IRTF telescope


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Did an impact kill the dinosaurs?

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Mass Extinctions
Fossil record shows occasional large dips in the diversity of species.
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Most recent was 65 million years ago, ending the reign of the dinosaurs.
2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Evidence of an Impact
Iridium is very rare in Earth surface rocks but often found in meteorites. In 1978 Luis and Walter Alvarez found a worldwide layer containing iridium, laid down 65 million years ago, probably by a meteorite impact. Same layer also contains: shocked quartzthat requires the high temperatures and pressures of an impact to form spherical rock dropletsmolten rock that solidified while raining down sootfrom large-spread forest fires
2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Evidence of an Impact: Iridium Layer


No dinosaur fossils in upper rock layers Thin layer, corresponding to the K-T boundary, contains the rare element iridium Dinosaur fossils all lie in below this layer
2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Consequences of an Impact
Meteorite 10 km in size would send large amounts of debris into atmosphere. Debris would reduce sunlight reaching Earths surface. Resulting climate change may have caused mass extinction: 75% of all existing plant and animal species 99% of all living plants and animals
2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Likely Impact Site: The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico

Geologists have found a 200 km-wide subsurface crater about 65 million years old in Mexico Estimate that the impactor was a 10 km asteroid or comet
2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Is the impact threat a real danger or media hype?

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Chelyabinsk Impact

Slide and video on Chelyabinsk meteorite. 10 m impactor?

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10m-sized Crater in a Lake

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Tunguska, Siberia: June 30, 1908 A ~40 meter object disintegrated and exploded in the atmosphere
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Meteor Crater, Arizona: 50,000 years ago (50 meter object)


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Manicouagan Crater, Eastern Canada 200 Myr, among oldest known 20 km across

Image: LSTS-9 Crew/NASA/GSFC

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Cosmic Impacts Are a Certainty!


Approximately 150 craters known on Earth
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None older than ~200 million years


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Older craters erased by tectonics, erosion


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71% of Earths surface is water: small impacts leave no mark! evidence of large impacts >200 Myr ago recycled with seafloor

Frequency of Impacts
Arizona Yucatan

Small impacts happen almost daily. Impacts large enough to cause mass extinctions are many millions of years apart
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Facts about Impacts


Asteroids and comets have hit the Earth.
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A major impact is only a matter of time: not IF but WHEN.


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Major impacts are very rare: Extinction level events ~ millions of years. Major damage ~ tens to hundreds of years.

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

NASA Near-Earth Object Program


Aims to detect potentially hazardous asteroids Uses a network of telescopes to search for such asteroids nightly http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/
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Some terms used in next video from NASA: PHA potentially hazardous asteroid Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale used to assess danger from an impact Aten a family of near-Earth asteroids that cross Earths orbit (and so are PHAs)
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The Asteroid with Our Name on It


We havent seen it yet.
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Deflection is more probable with years of advance warning.


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Control is critical
breaking a big asteroid into a bunch of little asteroids is unlikely to help.
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We get less advance warning of a killer comet

What have we learned?


Have we ever witnessed a major impact?
Yes, on the planet Jupiter in 1994 and 2009

Did an impact kill the dinosaurs?


There is strong evidence to support this hypothesis: world-wide layer of iridium at the K-T boundary: a rare element deposited globally at the time the dinosaurs went extinct (65 Myr ago) dinosaur fossils found below, not above K-T boundary layer large crater on Yucatan peninsula dates to 65 Myr ago.

Is the impact threat a real danger or media hype?


Dangerous impacts, albeit very rare, are a real danger Cratering evidence on Earth and the Moon show that they have occurred with regularity in the past
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Other Possible Reasons for Mass Extinctions


Episodes of active volcanism ! climate change Rapid acceleration of mutation rates e.g., because of thinning of ozone layer and increased UV radiation weakening of Earths magnetic field and increased penetration of solar wind Nearby supernova explosions: also increased irradiation by high-energy particles (cosmic rays) large influx of gamma ray photons can destroy ozone layer ! increased UV radiation
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Other Possible Reasons for Mass Extinctions: Us?

Human activity may drive half of species to extinction within a few centuries. On a geological time scale, this is a another mass extinction Potentially unpredictable consequences on global environment.
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Break: 5 min

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Todays Topics

Review of last lecture origins of life on Earth


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Evolution of life on Earth (Ch. 6.3, 6.5) Impacts and extinctions (Ch. 6.4) Life in the Solar System (Ch. 7)

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Environmental Requirements for Life


Our goals for learning: Where can we expect to find the building blocks of life? Where can we expect energy for life? Does life need liquid water? What are the environmental requirements for habitability?

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Where can we find the building blocks of life?

Chemical elements needed for life likely occur in all planetary systems consequence of how planets form from their parent proto-planetary nebulae Amino acids and complex organic molecules require a liquid or gas to form and move about need either an atmosphere or an ocean
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Where can we find energy for life?

Recall energy sources: sunlight organic molecules inorganic molecules Sunlight is everywhere in Solar System, although its intensity decreases with distance from the Sun

Intensity of light ! 1/distance2


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Does life need liquid water?


Liquids are needed for: dissolution of chemicals, transport, metabolic reactions Properties of potential liquids for life (at 1 atmospheric pressure)

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Advantages of Water: I. Temperature Range of Liquidity


wider than for other wide-spread fluids at higher temperatures ! faster chemical reactions

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Advantages of Water: II. Ice floats

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Advantages of Water: III. Charge separation


Affects how water dissolves other substances Allows hydrogen bonds in biochemical reactions

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Summary of environmental requirements for habitability


1. A source of molecules from which to build living cells 2. A source of energy to fuel metabolism 3. A liquid mediummost likely liquid waterfor transporting the molecules of life.

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What have we learned?


Where can we expect to find the building blocks of life?
the necessary chemical elementson almost any planetary body the complex organic molecules and amino acidsin liquid media
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Where can we expect energy for life?


anywhere there is sunlight or heat (e.g., volcanic vents)
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Does life need liquid water?


it needs a liquid medium water has many advantages over the other most common ones
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A Biological Tour of the Solar System


Our goals for learning: Does life seem plausible on the Moon or Mercury? Could life exist on Venus or Mars? What are the prospects for life on jovian planets? Could there be life on moons or other small bodies?

2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Does life seem plausible on the Moon or Mercury?

No surface liquids
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No atmosphere
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Verdict: negative.

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Water Ice on the Moon

Does exist in some permanently shadowed craters Discovered in 2009 by NASAs LCROSS Indias Chandrayaan-1 Deposited over billions of years of impacts
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Could life exist on Venus?


Enshrouded in a thick cloud cover Surface can not be seen from the Earth Without the atmospheric greenhouse effect, surface temperature would be ~35C.

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Venus: an Inhospitable Hell

Russian landers in 1970s and 1980s Venera-1 and Venera-2 revealed: thick atmosphere: 90 atmospheric pressures at surface contains 96% CO2 470C surface temperature: day and night! no liquid water runaway greenhouse effect Verdict: possibly only in the distant past. will never know - evidence erased by geological processes.

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Could life exist on Mars?


One of the best candidates for life beyond the Earth. The most explored planet after Earth. Will discuss in detail next time!
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Verdict: possible.

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What are the prospects for life on jovian planets?

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Jupiter and Saturn


No surfaces Very high densities and pressures in interior

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Jupiter and Saturn


Water clouds do exist in upper atmosphere But strong vertical (convective) winds would continually circulate any life forms between very cold and very hot regions
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Verdict: negative.

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Uranus and Neptune


Atmospheres much colder than those of Jupiter and Saturn Also strong vertical winds But outer liquid cores of water, methane, ammonia still: very high pressures, no clear energy extraction mechanism Would be extremely difficult to detect life that deep inside these planets Verdict: unlikely.
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Could there be life on large moons?

Some have liquid oceans underneath their icy surfaces. One (Titan) has a thick atmosphere.


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Will explore in 2 weeks! Verdict: possible.

Could there be life on other small bodies?

No atmospheres, no liquids. Verdict: negative.


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What have we learned?


Does life seem plausible on the Moon or Mercury? No. Could life exist on Venus or Mars? Venus: possibly in the distant past. Mars: possibly. What are the prospects for life on jovian planets? Jupiter and Saturn: negative. Uranus and Neptune: unlikely. Could there be life on moons or other small bodies? large moons: possibly. small bodies: no.
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Next time: Mars!

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