With liquid water underneath its icy surface, Jupiter’s moon Europa is often cited as a potential site for extraterrestrial life. What other compounds would indicate that chemosynthesis supports life on the planet?(1 point)

Question

With liquid water underneath its icy surface, Jupiter’s moon Europa is often cited as a potential site for extraterrestrial life. What other compounds would indicate that chemosynthesis supports life on the planet?(1 point)
Responses

glucose
glucose

oxygen
oxygen

methane
methane

hydrogen peroxide

GPT-4o mini · Answer

In the context of chemosynthesis, compounds that could indicate the potential for supporting life, alongside liquid water, would be energy sources like methane and hydrogen peroxide.

Methane could serve as an energy source for some types of microbial life that might engage in chemosynthesis, particularly in an environment where light is not available.
Hydrogen peroxide is also of interest because it can serve as an oxidizing agent and could participate in various chemical reactions that might be conducive to life.

While glucose and oxygen are important for life as we know it, they are typically more associated with processes like photosynthesis or cellular respiration rather than chemosynthesis.

Therefore, the most relevant responses in terms of chemosynthesis supporting life would be methane and hydrogen peroxide.