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Published online 14 November 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1226
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Microbes drove Earth's mineral evolution
A comprehensive history of Earth's mineral wealth concludes that without life, many raw materials wouldn't exist.
Without life, two-thirds of all the known minerals on Earth would never have formed, a new study suggests. The discovery could aid the search for extraterrestrial life and improve climate change models.
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"Metal oxides, calcites and clay minerals would all be rare on a lifeless planet, but they are abundant on a living one, Hazen says." I always thougth that Mars was red due to the large amount of iron oxides in its soil. If I read this article correctly this would imply Mars had an oxygen rich atmosphere created by photosythetic microbes. Aren't there other processes which would oxidize metals other than exposure to oxygen, for example reactions involving water/ice, CO2, etc...? Or am I incorrect about the cause of Mars' red color? While it seems correct to me to conclude that biological influences had a major impact on mineral formation on Earth, in my opinion this would not exclude the possibility that other, non-biological, processes formed similar minerals on other planets.
RE: The Great Cycle of Elements of Life on Earth -- This is hardly surprising as I long proposed (in 2006) that the unique origins of Life and its biochemical species (elements) were accrued, established, and evolved on Earth (please see my seminal book "Gods, Genes, Conscience" Chapter 2: The Universal Elements of Life; and Chapter 3: The Physicochemical Basis of Life). However that "Microbes drove Earth's mineral evolution" does confirm and adds a new understanding of my hypothesis that the "Great Cycle of Elements of Life" was initiated and evolved on our unique planet Earth since over 3 billion years ago! Best wishes, Mong, author "Decoding Scientism" and "Consciousness & the Subconscious" (works in progress since July 2007).
Life has certainly been a major force on Earth but this review is a bit confused. Some examples... "...algae...released oxygen into the atmosphere through photosynthesis, which caused existing minerals to 'rust' and form metals such as iron and copper oxides." The 'rust' formed primarily from the oxidation of dissolved ferrous iron not existing minerals, and it formed hydrous iron oxide minerals, not "metals". "On land, the evolution of soil-based microbes and plants led to the hasty production of diverse clay minerals, like the talcs used in makeup and powdered laundry detergents..." Soil microbes leading to talcs? Talc is a metamorphic or hydrothermal mineral and it's not even a common one. "Metal oxides, calcites and clay minerals would all be rare on a lifeless planet.." Should we tell NASA? BTW.. Reader Nolet is correct. Iron oxides don't need photosynthetic oxygen.