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Geochemistry

Biosignatures and abiotic constraints on early life (Reply)

Nature volume 444, pages E18–E19 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Replying to Sherwood Lollar and McCollom

Sherwood Lollar and McCollom1 suggest that abiotic reactions, in particular those catalysed by Fe–Ni alloys, might be responsible for the methane recorded in our fluid inclusions2. They point out that 13C in methane that is produced abiotically can be substantially depleted under field and laboratory conditions. However, native metal catalysis would not only have been implausible in the sulphidic environment of the basalt-hosted Dresser hydrothermal system, but it would also have been inconsistent with the isotopic fractionation between CH4 and CO2 that we note in the primary fluid2.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for the Evolving Earth and Planet, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, 152-8551, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuichiro Ueno, Naohiro Yoshida & Shigenori Maruyama

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, 152-8551, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuichiro Ueno & Shigenori Maruyama

  3. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, 226-8503, Yokohama, Japan

    Naohiro Yoshida

  4. Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, 226-8503, Yokohama, Japan

    Keita Yamada & Naohiro Yoshida

  5. SORST project, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Kawaguchi, 332-0012, Saitama, Japan

    Yuichiro Ueno, Keita Yamada & Naohiro Yoshida

  6. Department of Earth Science and Astronomy, University of Tokyo, Meguro-ku, 153-8902, Tokyo, Japan

    Yukio Isozaki

Authors
  1. Yuichiro Ueno
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  2. Keita Yamada
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  3. Naohiro Yoshida
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  4. Shigenori Maruyama
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  5. Yukio Isozaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuichiro Ueno.

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Ueno, Y., Yamada, K., Yoshida, N. et al. Biosignatures and abiotic constraints on early life (Reply). Nature 444, E18–E19 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05500

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