The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 24 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Hydrogen Consumption by Methanogens on the Early Earth
Abstract
It is possible that the first autotroph used chemical energy rather than light. This could have been the main source of primary production after the initial inventory of abiotic organic material had been depleted. The electron acceptor most readily available for use by this first chemoautotroph would have been CO2. The most abundant electron donor may have been H2 that would have been outgassing from volcanoes at a rate estimated to be as large as 10(12) moles yr-1, as well as from photo-oxidation of Fe+2. We report here that certain methanogens will consume H2 down to partial pressures as low as 4 Pa (4 x 10(-5) atm) with CO2 as the sole carbon source at a rate of 0.7 ng H2 min-1 microgram-1 cell protein. The lower limit of pH2 for growth of methanogens can be understood on the basis that the pH2 needs to be high enough for one ATP to be synthesized per CO2 reduced. The pH2 values needed for growth measured here are consistent with those measured by Stevens and McKinley for growth of methanogens in deep basalt aquifers. H2-consuming autotrophs are likely to have had a profound effect on the chemistry of the early atmosphere and to have been a dominant sink for H2 on the early Earth after life began rather than escape from the Earth's atmosphere to space.
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“The Archean lower atmosphere is unlikely to have been H2-rich given the antiquity of methanogens (23, 51, 197), some of which convert H2 into methane through a net reaction”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [197]
In the citing paper
“The Archean lower atmosphere is unlikely to have been H2-rich given the antiquity of methanogens (23, 51, 197), some of which convert H2 into methane through a net reaction”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [197]
Citations
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Stevens, T., & Mckinley, J. (1995) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.270.5235.450 · Cited by 746
Lovley, D. R., & Goodwin, S. (1988) · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/0016-7037(88)90163-9 · Cited by 653
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Chang, S. D, DesMarais, D., Mack, R., Miller, S. L. and Strathearn, G. E.: 1983, in Schopf, J. W. (ed.), Earth's Earliest Biosphere, Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp. 53–92.
- Hungate, R. E.: 1969, in Norris, J. R. and Ribbons, D.W. (eds.), Methods in Microbiology, Academic Press, New York, pp. 117–132.
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- Miller, S. L.: 1992, in Schopf, J. W. (ed.), Major Events in the History of Life, Jones and Bartlett, Boston, pp. 1–28.
- Sagan, C., Khare, B. N. and Lewis, J. S.: 1984, in Gehrels, T. and Matthews, M. S. (eds.), Saturn, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 788–805.
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Items 101–110 of 110
Exploring for Habitable Planets Beyond the Solar System
(2002) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/153110702762470671
Joseph, A. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95717-5.00018-9
Sanz, J. L. (2023) · Encyclopedia of Astrobiology · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_971
Harris, R. L., & Schuerger, A. C. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3221337/v1
The Changing Concept of Habitability on Earth, the Solar System, and Beyond
McKay, C. P. (2026) · Geosciences · doi:10.3390/geosciences16050190
Self-citationMethane Production on Mars-Relevant Clay Minerals and Simulant Regolith
Mickol, R. L., Waddell, W. H., Wray, J., Pohlkamp, R., Kern, C., & Kral, T. A. (2026) · Microorganisms · doi:10.3390/microorganisms14071496
Self-citationA generalized microbial cell model for methane biosignature predictions
Nicholson, A., & Mayne, N. J. (2026) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stag1300
Global Scale Consequences of Biological Methane Production
Colwell, F. S., & Ussler, W. (2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_228
Middle Archean continent formation by crustal delamination
Zegers, T. E., & van Keken, P. E. (2001) · Geology · doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029
Metadata
- Authors
- Kral, T. A., Brink, K. M., Miller, S. L., & McKay, C. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Venue
- Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
- Published
- 1998-06
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 311-319
- ISSN
- 0169-6149 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-0875
- OpenAlex
- W1666532264
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Keywords
- methanogenic archaea, hydrogen consumption, early Earth, chemoautotrophy, CO2 reduction, hydrogen partial pressure, hydrogen outgassing, volcanic outgassing, primary production, early atmosphere, hydrogen sink, ATP production
- MeSH terms
- Carbon Dioxide, Culture Media, Electron Transport, Energy Metabolism, Hydrogen, Kinetics, Methane, Models, Biological, Thermodynamics, Methanobacterium, Methanococcus, Methanosarcina, Euryarchaeota
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