Synthesis of prebiotic organic compounds within the Tagish Lake Meteorite
Faculty Advisor
Date
2014
Keywords
meteorites, organic compounds
Abstract (summary)
The Tagish Lake meteorite stones are composites of several different lithologies that exhibit varying degrees of parent body hydrothermal alteration. Through leeching regimens with polar and weakly polar solvents , and by employing GC-MS techniques, we found within the extracts several different classes of soluble organic compounds, ranging from highly polar monocarboxylic acids, amino acids and phenols, to essentially non-polar aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The differences in both the concentrations and the classes of soluble polar organic species across the four lithologies studied are likely the result of varying degrees of oxidative hydrothermal alteration of primordial insoluble organic matter (IOM).The amino acids found in the water extracts, by contrast, are probably derived from small precursor molecules ,such as aldehydes and ketones, via aqueous-based reactions within the parent body.
Publication Information
DOI
Notes
Presented on June 10, 2014 at The Goldschmidt California Conference held at the Sacramento Convention Center in Sacramento, California.
Item Type
Presentation
Language
English
Rights
All Rights Reserved