Chemical gardening
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Chemical garden. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2019. |
Chemical gardening refers to the process of creating complex biological-looking structures by mixing chemicals together wherever large amounts of such chemicals naturally occur. More simply, forming natural minerals to mimic biology. For example, mixing iron-rich particles with alkaline liquids containing the chemicals silicate or carbonate have created biological-looking structures. Such structures are actually non-biological even though they may appear to be biological and/or fossils.[1][2][3] According to researchers, "Chemical reactions like these have been studied for hundreds of years but they had not previously been shown to mimic these tiny iron-rich structures inside rocks. These results call for a re-examination of many ancient real-world examples to see if they are more likely to be fossils or non-biological mineral deposits."[1][2]
One use of the study of chemical gardening is to be better able to distinguish biological structures, including fossils, from non-biological structures on the planet Mars.[1][2]
References
- ^ a b c University of Edinburgh (27 November 2019). "Solving fossil mystery could aid quest for ancient life on Mars". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ a b c McMahon, Sean (27 November 2019). "Earth's earliest and deepest purported fossils may be iron-mineralized chemical gardens". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2410. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Steinbock, Oliver; et al. (1 March 2019). "The fertile physics of chemical gardens". physics Today. 69 (3): 44. doi:10.1063/PT.3.3108. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
