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Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Simulation of Early Earth Hydrothermal Chimneys in a Thermal Gradient Environment
Published on: February 27, 2021
Out of Thin Air? Astrobiology and Atmospheric Chemotrophy
Don A Cowan1, Belinda C Ferrari2, Christopher P McKay3
1Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Abstract:
The emerging understanding of microbial trace gas chemotrophy as a metabolic strategy to support energy and carbon acquisition for microbial survival and growth has significant implications in the search for past, and even extant, life beyond Earth. The use of trace gases, including hydrogen and carbon monoxide as substrates for microbial oxidation, potentially offers a viable strategy with which to support life on planetary bodies that possess a suitable atmospheric composition, such as Mars and Titan. Here, we discuss the current state of knowledge of this process and explore its potential in the field of astrobiological exploration.
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