Seawater on this planet is known to be highly alkaline and very salty
BEIJING (ANTARA) – BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) – Enceladus, a moon of the planet Saturn, has a greater habitability potential as its ocean area may be rich in soluble phosphorus, an essential element of life but previously not detected on the planet behind it. , in this solar system, according to a new study.
Enceladus, the second moon found around Saturn, has a thick shell of ice in the middle of a subglacial ocean, which forms a lump that scientists have discovered contains the five basic elements of life, namely carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen. and sulfur. However, the essential element phosphorus has not been discovered.
Due to the absence of elemental phosphorus, which is an essential component of bone, cell membranes and DNA in humans and animals, Enceladus was previously considered uninhabitable by the international scientific community.
However, an international research team led by a number of Chinese scientists have disproved previous findings by claiming that they found elemental phosphorus in the form of phosphate in the oceanic region of the moon.
In the study, the researchers created a seawater-rock interaction model to simulate the geochemistry of Enceladus’s rocky bottom.
“Seawater on this planet is known to be highly alkaline (very salty) and devoid of oxygen, similar to the sparkling water people drink on Earth,” said lead researcher Hao Jihua of China University of Science and Technology.
In such a “soda” environment, it would take about 100,000 years for the phosphorus to be leached from the rocks of Enceladus into the ocean.
Hao said the liquid water ocean had probably existed for more than 100 million years in Enceladus. Given its long-standing potential, this planet’s rocks are expected to release large amounts of phosphorus into the oceans.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Although phosphorus was not discovered explicitly, the study provides a scientific reference for future exploration of the potential for life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, the researchers said.
Reporter: Xinhua
Publisher: Zita Meirina
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