Seminar Pauline Lévêque

Organo-mineral interactions are well-known under Earth conditions, but mostly unknown in extraterrestrial contexts, such as in the formation of small bodies, i.e., asteroids and icy bodies. Prior to the formation of small bodies, it is expected that several reactions driven by the young Sun’s activity onto solid particles and the gaseous phases will occur in the protoplanetary disk. These reactions are hypothesised to lead to the formation of various primitive organic matter. During the evolution of the PPD and the formation of the first planetesimals, these organic materials and solid mineral particles mixed with ices aggregate to experience hydrothermal conditions. In the context of the origin of life and habitability research, more and more studies have recently become interested in reproducing these hydrothermal conditions to understand extraterrestrial organo-mineral interactions.

In this talk, after a review of the formation of small bodies focused on the co-evolution of organic matter with diverse minerals, I will present my current research on the specific case of Fe-saponite with organic matter in the context of hydrothermal vents of Enceladus.