Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life

Form is a common and intuitive criterion to distinguish between the realm of living species and the inanimate nature. However, there are in fact no strict boundaries in terms of morphology, as exemplified by so-called chemical gardens, which form by self-assembly in purely inorganic systems and yet...

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Autores: Reigl, Selina, Wagner, Elisabeth, Pimentel Guerra, Carlos, Kunz, Werner, Van Driessche, Alexander E. S., Kellermeier, Matthias
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/130382
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130382
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ciencias
2506 Geología
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spelling Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial LifeReigl, SelinaWagner, ElisabethPimentel Guerra, CarlosKunz, WernerVan Driessche, Alexander E. S.Kellermeier, MatthiasCiencias2506 GeologíaForm is a common and intuitive criterion to distinguish between the realm of living species and the inanimate nature. However, there are in fact no strict boundaries in terms of morphology, as exemplified by so-called chemical gardens, which form by self-assembly in purely inorganic systems and yet closely mimic the appearance of trees and other plants. While such structures have been reported for a broad range of compositions–most notably silicates of various types of metal cations as well as prominent (bio)minerals like calcium carbonate or phosphate–one important material has been missing in the comprehensive list of these chemobrionic systems: calcium sulfate. In the present work, we succeeded in preparing well-developed CaSO4-based chemical gardens by addition of a concentrated solution of sodium sulfate to solid crystals of calcium chloride. The formed structures were characterized in detail with respect to their growth behavior, mineralogy, and texture. We find hollow tubular architectures consisting of oriented gypsum crystals and delineating smooth curvatures with multiple branching sites. Beyond the sheer beauty of these self-assembled mineral structures, the results of our study bear deep implications for the detection and interpretation of potential past life on Mars, where abundant deposits of calcium sulfate exist. In addition, the current picture of geochemical environments on the early red planet is fully consistent with the experimental conditions used in the present work, rendering the formation and presence of chemical gardens on Mars plausible.WileyUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20252025-01-0120252025-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130382reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1303822026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
title Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
spellingShingle Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
Reigl, Selina
Ciencias
2506 Geología
title_short Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
title_full Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
title_fullStr Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
title_full_unstemmed Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
title_sort Gypsum gardens: self-assembled tubular structures of calcium sulfate with relevance for the detection of extraterrestrial Life
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Reigl, Selina
Wagner, Elisabeth
Pimentel Guerra, Carlos
Kunz, Werner
Van Driessche, Alexander E. S.
Kellermeier, Matthias
author Reigl, Selina
author_facet Reigl, Selina
Wagner, Elisabeth
Pimentel Guerra, Carlos
Kunz, Werner
Van Driessche, Alexander E. S.
Kellermeier, Matthias
author_role author
author2 Wagner, Elisabeth
Pimentel Guerra, Carlos
Kunz, Werner
Van Driessche, Alexander E. S.
Kellermeier, Matthias
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias
2506 Geología
topic Ciencias
2506 Geología
description Form is a common and intuitive criterion to distinguish between the realm of living species and the inanimate nature. However, there are in fact no strict boundaries in terms of morphology, as exemplified by so-called chemical gardens, which form by self-assembly in purely inorganic systems and yet closely mimic the appearance of trees and other plants. While such structures have been reported for a broad range of compositions–most notably silicates of various types of metal cations as well as prominent (bio)minerals like calcium carbonate or phosphate–one important material has been missing in the comprehensive list of these chemobrionic systems: calcium sulfate. In the present work, we succeeded in preparing well-developed CaSO4-based chemical gardens by addition of a concentrated solution of sodium sulfate to solid crystals of calcium chloride. The formed structures were characterized in detail with respect to their growth behavior, mineralogy, and texture. We find hollow tubular architectures consisting of oriented gypsum crystals and delineating smooth curvatures with multiple branching sites. Beyond the sheer beauty of these self-assembled mineral structures, the results of our study bear deep implications for the detection and interpretation of potential past life on Mars, where abundant deposits of calcium sulfate exist. In addition, the current picture of geochemical environments on the early red planet is fully consistent with the experimental conditions used in the present work, rendering the formation and presence of chemical gardens on Mars plausible.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-01-01
2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130382
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130382
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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