Synonyms
Definition
Endogenicity refers to a component that maybe textural, chemical, mineral, or biological and that formed within the host material, for example, a mineral phase or organic structure found in a rock that is indigenous to that rock and not derived from external sources. Endogenicity concerns the source of a component with respect to space, and this differs from syngenicity, which concerns the source of a component with respect to time.
History
Traditionally, the term endogenetic has been used in geology to refer to processes originating below the Earth’s surface as opposed to exogenetic, which describes geological processes acting at or near the Earth’s surface. This definition is modified here for the investigation of astrobiological samples obtained from a range of planetary surfaces and to operate at all observational scales from the field outcrop, hand sample to microscope.
Overview
It is a component formed within the host material that is indigenous to...
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References and Further Reading
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McLoughlin, N. (2015). Endogenicity. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_512
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_512
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