Christopher R. Glein

Birth of Biomolecules from the Warm Wet Sheets of Clays Near Spreading Centers

The role of clay minerals in the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules near seafloor spreading centers was simulated experimentally. Clays are common hydrothermal alteration products of volcanic glass and due to their nano-scale crystal size, provide extensive and variably charged surfaces that interact with aqueous organic species. Volcanic gases H2and CO2have been shown to react on magnetite surfaces to form methanol, a primary organic molecule, under hydrothermal conditions. Therefore, our experiments simulated the temperature and pressure conditions (300°C, 100 MPa) that exist beneath hydrothermal vents, in stockwork fractures through which hydrothermal fluids interact with fresh basalt. We examined the products of reactions between aqueous methanol and three common clay minerals found in those environments (montmorillonite, saponite, illite).