Discovery of Naturally Etched Fission Tracks and Alpha-Recoil Tracks in Submarine Glasses: Reevaluation of a Putative Biosignature for Earth and Mars

Figure 19

Diagram outlining a paradigm shift in scientific perspectives on the origin of complex corrosion microtextures in submarine basaltic glass—constrained in this study with our model for the preferential corrosion of radiation damage (by seawater) in basaltic glass pillow margins at DSDP 418A (i.e., new abiotic “Radiogenic” paradigm). The conventional “biogenic” paradigm is outlined in previous studies on microbial bioalteration of basaltic glass (e.g., see reviews in Furnes et al. [11], Furnes et al. [26], Staudigel et al. [27], McLoughlin et al. [28], and Furnes et al. [59]).