NDLI: Temperature oscillations near natural nuclear reactor cores and the potential for prebiotic oligomer synthesis

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Adam, Zachary R.
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	Geologic settings capable of driving prebiotic oligomer synthesis reactions remain a relatively unexplored aspect of origins of life research. Natural nuclear reactors are an example of Precambrian energy sources that produced unique temperature fluctuations. Heat transfer models indicate that water-moderated, convectively-cooled natural fission reactors in porous host rocks create temperature oscillations that resemble those employed in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) devices to artificially amplify oligonucleotides. This temperature profile is characterized by short-duration pulses up to 70–100 °C, followed by a sustained period of temperatures in the range of 30–70 °C, and finally a period of relaxation to ambient temperatures until the cycle is restarted by a fresh influx of pore water. For a given reactor configuration, temperature maxima and the time required to relax to ambient temperatures depend most strongly on the aggregate effect of host rock permeability in decreasing the thermal expansion and increasing the viscosity and evaporation temperature of the pore fluids. Once formed, fission-fueled reactors can sustain multi-kilowatt-level power production for 10$^{5}$–10$^{6}$ years, ensuring microenvironmental longevity and chemical output. The model outputs indicate that organic synthesis on young planetary bodies with a sizeable reservoir of fissile material can involve more sophisticated energy dissipation pathways than modern terrestrial analog settings alone would suggest.
Starting Page	171
Ending Page	187
Page Count	17
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01696149
Journal	Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
Volume Number	46
Issue Number	2-3
e-ISSN	15730875
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2015-12-17
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Polymerization Radiolysis Oligomerization Phosphate Nucleoside Life Sciences Astrophysics and Astroparticles Earth Sciences Astronomy, Observations and Techniques Biochemistry
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Space and Planetary Science

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Temperature oscillations near natural nuclear reactor cores and the potential for prebiotic oligomer synthesis.

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