eprintid: 1318827
rev_number: 35
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/01/31/88/27
datestamp: 2011-09-08 05:20:07
lastmod: 2021-10-18 00:02:18
status_changed: 2011-09-08 05:20:07
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
item_issues_count: 0
creators_name: Dartnell, LR
title: Ionizing Radiation and Life
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: C06
divisions: F58
keywords: Cosmic rays, Solar energetic particles, Radioactivity, Ultraviolet, Supernova, Gamma-ray burst, Magnetosphere, Panspermia, Biosignature, GAMMA-RAY BURSTS, GALACTIC COSMIC-RAYS, SOLAR-PROTON EVENTS, EARTH-LIKE PLANETS, BACTERIUM DEINOCOCCUS-RADIODURANS, NEARBY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS, NATURAL FISSION REACTORS, LOWER VENUS ATMOSPHERE, SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENT, HIGH-ENERGY PARTICLES
note: This is a copy of an article (Lewis R. Dartnell. Astrobiology. July/August 2011, 11(6): 551-582. doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0528.) published in Astriobiology © 2011 [copyright Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.]; Astrobiology is available online at: http://www.liebertpub.com/ast
abstract: Ionizing radiation is a ubiquitous feature of the Cosmos, from exogenous cosmic rays (CR) to the intrinsic mineral radioactivity of a habitable world, and its influences on the emergence and persistence of life are wide-ranging and profound. Much attention has already been focused on the deleterious effects of ionizing radiation on organisms and the complex molecules of life, but ionizing radiation also performs many crucial functions in the generation of habitable planetary environments and the origins of life. This review surveys the role of CR and mineral radioactivity in star formation, generation of biogenic elements, and the synthesis of organic molecules and driving of prebiotic chemistry. Another major theme is the multiple layers of shielding of planetary surfaces from the flux of cosmic radiation and the various effects on a biosphere of violent but rare astrophysical events such as supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. The influences of CR can also be duplicitous, such as limiting the survival of surface life on Mars while potentially supporting a subsurface biosphere in the ocean of Europa. This review highlights the common thread that ionizing radiation forms between the disparate component disciplines of astrobiology.
date: 2011-07
publisher: MARY ANN LIEBERT INC
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0528
vfaculties: VMPS
oa_status: green
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: Review
verified: verified_batch
elements_source: Web of Science
elements_id: 335538
doi: 10.1089/ast.2010.0528
language_elements: EN
lyricists_name: Dartnell, Lewis
lyricists_id: LRDAR61
full_text_status: public
publication: Astrobiology
volume: 11
number: 6
pagerange: 551 - 582
issn: 1531-1074
citation:        Dartnell, LR;      (2011)    Ionizing Radiation and Life.                   Astrobiology , 11  (6)   551 - 582.    10.1089/ast.2010.0528 <https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0528>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1318827/1/1318827.pdf