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Arsenic in the evolution of earth and extraterrestrial ecosystems

R.S. Oremland·C.W. Saltikov·Felisa Wolfe-Simon·J.F. Stolz
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Abstract

If you were asked to speculate about the form extra-terrestrial life on Mars might take, which geomicrobial phenomenon might you select as a model system, assuming that life on Mars would be ‘primitive’? Give your reasons. At the end of my senior year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968, I took Professor Ehrlich's final for his Geomicrobiology course. The above question beckoned to me like the Sirens to Odysseus, for if I answered, it would take so much time and thought that I would never get around to the exam's other essay questions and consequently, would be “shipwrecked” by flunking the course. So, I passed it up. With this 41-year perspective in mind, this manuscript is now submitted to Professor Ehrlich for (belated) “extra-credit.” R.S. Oremland

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R.S. Oremland, C.W. Saltikov, Felisa Wolfe-Simon, J.F. Stolz. 2009. Arsenic in the evolution of earth and extraterrestrial ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490450903102525

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