Enceladus [UPSC Notes]

High concentrations of phosphorus, an essential element for all biological processes on Earth, have been detected in ice crystals spewed from the interior ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. In this article, you can read more about the latest discovery for the IAS exam science and technology segment.

Discoveries on Enceladus

• High concentrations of phosphorus, an essential element for all biological processes on Earth, have been detected in ice crystals spewed from the interior ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
• Phosphorus,  the least abundant of six chemical elements considered necessary to all living things – the others are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur.
• Phosphorus is fundamental to the structure of DNA and a vital part of cell membranes and energy-carrying molecules existing in all forms of life on Earth.
  • Phosphorus combines with sugars to form a skeleton to DNA molecules and also helps repair and maintain cell membranes. 
• The discovery was made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, the first to orbit Saturn, during its 13-year landmark exploration of the gaseous giant planet, its rings and its moons from 2004 to 2017.
• Phosphorus is quite rare in natural waters as it readily reacts with positively charged atoms like calcium to form calcium phosphate, which locks up the phosphorus and thus makes it unusable for lifeforms. 
• But Enceladus is able to host such high amounts of dissolved phosphorus because it has what scientists call a soda ocean. 
• Soda oceans or soda lakes are rich in carbonates — minerals that contain carbon dioxide and form easily in water. Carbonates bond with other elements, like calcium, leaving phosphorus available for potential life to use.

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