Computer models indicate that between 2.5 and four billion years ago, radioactive heating within Ceres' rocky interior produced hot water exceeding 270°C near the core. That hot water surged upward, mixing with cold subsurface brines and delivering dissolved minerals and gases. Widespread subsurface reservoirs of salty water and the presence of organic carbon provided two necessary life ingredients, while hydrothermal-like upwellings could have supplied chemical energy and nutrients. Surface observations of salty deposits confirm past liquid upflow. Present-day Ceres has frigid brine reservoirs around −63°C, far too cold for known life.
Previous research has shown that Ceres has hidden lakes of salt water beneath the surface and organic carbon molecules - two of the necessary ingredients for life. But the dwarf planet is still lacking anything for microbes to eat. Now, using computer models to simulate Ceres' past, researchers have shown that this was not always the case. Between 2.5 and four billion years ago, radioactively warmed water would have created a 'buffet for microbes' that could have supported simple forms of life.
However, between 500 million and two billion years after Ceres formed, the decay of radioactive minerals in the rocky interior would have produced a steady supply of hot water. According to the researchers' simulations, water near the core would have reached temperatures exceeding 270°C (530°F). That hot water would have surged up towards the surface, mixing with the cold water and injecting a stream of dissolved minerals and gases.
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