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Technical University of Crete
Technical University of Crete
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| URI: | http://purl.tuc.gr/dl/dias/A15ECF34-6206-468A-9CF8-ED071667FC39 | ||
| Year | 2015 | ||
| Type of Item | Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication | ||
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| Bibliographic Citation | Christos D. Georgiou, Henry J. Sun, Christopher P. McKay, Konstantinos Grintzalis1, Ioannis Papapostolou,Dimitrios Zisimopoulos, Konstantinos Panagiotidis, Gaosen Zhang, Eleni Koutsopoulou, George E. Christidis & Irene Margiolaki "Evidence for photochemical production of reactive oxygen species in desert soils "Nature Communications (Impact Factor: 11.47). 05/2015; 6:7100 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8100 | ||
| Appears in Collections |
The combination of intense solar radiation and soil desiccation creates a short circuit in thebiogeochemical carbon cycle, where soils release significant amounts of CO2 and reactivenitrogen oxides by abiotic oxidation. Here we show that desert soils accumulate metalsuperoxides and peroxides at higher levels than non-desert soils. We also show the photogenerationof equimolar superoxide and hydroxyl radical in desiccated and aqueoussoils, respectively, by a photo-induced electron transfer mechanism supported by theirmineralogical composition. Reactivity of desert soils is further supported by the generation ofhydroxyl radical via aqueous extracts in the dark. Our findings extend to desert soils thephotogeneration of reactive oxygen species by certain mineral oxides and also explainprevious studies on desert soil organic oxidant chemistry and microbiology. Similar processesdriven by ultraviolet radiation may be operating in the surface soils on Mars.
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