School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK.
School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2020;38:123-162. doi: 10.21775/cimb.038.123. Epub 2020 Jan 22.
Several icy moons of the outer solar system have been receiving considerable attention and are currently seen as major targets for astrobiological research and the search for life beyond our planet. Despite the limited amount of data on the oceans of these moon, we expect them to be composed of brines with variable chemistry, some degree of hydrothermal input, and be under high pressure conditions. The combination of these different conditions significantly limits the number of extreme locations, which can be used as terrestrial analogues. Here we propose the use of deep-sea brines as potential terrestrial analogues to the oceans in the outer solar system. We provide an overview of what is currently known about the conditions on the icy moons of the outer solar system and their oceans as well as on deep-sea brines of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and their microbiology. We also identify several threads of future research, which would be particularly useful in the context of future exploration of these extra-terrestrial oceans.
太阳系外的几颗冰冷卫星受到了相当多的关注，目前被视为天体生物学研究和寻找地球以外生命的主要目标。尽管关于这些卫星海洋的数据有限，但我们预计它们由盐水组成，具有不同的化学成分、一定程度的热液输入，并处于高压条件下。这些不同条件的结合极大地限制了可以作为地球类似物的极端环境的数量。在这里，我们提出利用深海卤水作为太阳系外海洋的潜在地球类似物。我们概述了目前已知的太阳系外冰冷卫星及其海洋的条件，以及红海和地中海深海卤水及其微生物学的情况。我们还确定了未来研究的几个方向，这在未来对这些地外海洋的探索中尤为有用。
