Definition
Abiotic refers to the ongoing physical and chemical processes in natural environments driven by different mechanisms that deviate from any biological activity. Although primary physical and chemical cycles on Earth can hardly escape the activity of the biosphere, some processes do not depend on biological activities. For example, this is the case of hydrothermal deposits resulting from reactions equilibrated at high temperature and driven by the circulation of hot fluids commonly through a silica-rich host rock. Under those conditions, the redox, volatile fugacity, and mineral saturation are fully conducted by physical and chemical processes that are independent of the biological processes. Interestingly, while the hydrothermal processes are mostly unbound from the biological activity, they can produce organic compounds (McCollom and Seewald 2007) or replicate chemical reactions that are mimicked some way by some metabolic pathways (Huber and Wächtershäuser 1997). In...
References and Further Reading
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Fernandez-Remolar, D.C. (2022). Abiotic. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_84-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_84-4
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Abiotic- Published:
- 13 December 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_84-4
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Abiotic (Entry Type: Short Entry)
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- 23 November 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_84-3
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Abiotic- Published:
- 22 April 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_84-2