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Volume 38
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10.21775/cimb.038.075
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Current Issues in Molecular Biology is published by MDPI from Volume 43 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Caister Press.
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Review

Microbial Life in Impact Craters

by
Charles S. Cockell
1,*,
Gordon Osinski
2,
Haley Sapers
3,
Alexandra Pontefract
4 and
John Parnell
5
1
School of Physics and Astronomy, James Clerk Maxwell Building, King's Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK
2
Department of Earth Sciences/Physics and Astronomy, 1151 Richmond St., University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
3
California Institute of Technology, Mail code 100-23, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
4
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Greene Building, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
5
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2020, 38(1), 75-102; https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.075
Submission received: 2 October 2019 / Revised: 7 November 2019 / Accepted: 7 November 2019 / Published: 22 January 2020
Versions Notes

Abstract

Asteroid and comet impacts are known to have caused profound disruption to multicellular life, yet their influence on habitats for microorganisms, which comprise the majority of Earth's biomass, is less well understood. Of particular interest are geological changes in the target lithology at and near the point of impact that can persist for billions of years. Deep subsurface and surface-dwelling microorganisms are shown to gain advantages from impact-induced fracturing of rocks. Deleterious changes are associated with impact-induced closure of pore spaces in rocks. Superimposed on these long-term geological changes are post-impact alterations such as changes in the hydrological system in and around a crater. The close coupling between geological changes and the conditions for microorganisms yields a synthesis of the fields of microbiology and impact cratering. We use these data to discuss how craters can be used in the search for life beyond Earth.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cockell, C.S.; Osinski, G.; Sapers, H.; Pontefract, A.; Parnell, J. Microbial Life in Impact Craters. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2020, 38, 75-102. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.075

AMA Style

Cockell CS, Osinski G, Sapers H, Pontefract A, Parnell J. Microbial Life in Impact Craters. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2020; 38(1):75-102. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.075

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cockell, Charles S., Gordon Osinski, Haley Sapers, Alexandra Pontefract, and John Parnell. 2020. "Microbial Life in Impact Craters" Current Issues in Molecular Biology 38, no. 1: 75-102. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.075

APA Style

Cockell, C. S., Osinski, G., Sapers, H., Pontefract, A., & Parnell, J. (2020). Microbial Life in Impact Craters. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 38(1), 75-102. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.075

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