An international research team led by a Chinese scientist has found that Enceladus' ocean may be abundant in dissolved phosphates that could support the origin and proliferation of potential microorganism. The discovery fills a gap in the study of the habitability of the Enceladus' water and provides a scientific reference for future exploration of possible life on the moon.The team is led by Hao Jihua, researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China. The team published the research paper on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, a US journal, according to a report of Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.As one of the prime targets in the search for life in the solar system, Enceladus has an ice-covered water ocean that erupts into space, which forms a plume that contains almost all of the basic requirements of terrestrial life, according to observations made by the Cassini spacecraft. However, the bioessential element phosphorus was yet to be found.The international scientific community once thought Enceladus, a small moon of Saturn, might be inhospitable to life due to its absence of phosphorus, an element that is essential to the DNA, biofilms and bones that make up living organisms.The research team has recently performed a geochemical modeling experiment that simulates the chemical environment of Enceladus' ocean.The models suggest that Enceladus' ocean may be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, meaning that there is a higher possibility that the ocean of Enceladus is habitable, according to the research paper published on September 19."Phosphorus can only be used by organisms if it is dissolved in water. The water on Enceladus is highly alkaline and oxygen-free compared to the water on Earth. It's kind of like 'soda,'" Hao was quoted saying in the report.The research team found that in this "soda" environment, phosphorus-containing rocks in Enceladus' core could have dissolved a considerable amount of phosphorus into the ocean water during a period of 100,000 years.The research paper noted that a liquid water ocean might have existed for hundreds of millions to several billion years inside Enceladus. Therefore, the dissolution of phosphates and other minerals can be expected to have released considerable amounts of phosphorus into the ocean.An international research team led by a Chinese scientist has found that Enceladus' ocean may be abundant in dissolved phosphates that could support the origin and proliferation of potential microorganism. The discovery fills a gap in the study of the habitability of the Enceladus' water and provides a scientific reference for future exploration of possible life on the moon.The team is led by Hao Jihua, researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China. The team published the research paper on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, a US journal, according to a report of Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.As one of the prime targets in the search for life in the solar system, Enceladus has an ice-covered water ocean that erupts into space, which forms a plume that contains almost all of the basic requirements of terrestrial life, according to observations made by the Cassini spacecraft. However, the bioessential element phosphorus was yet to be found.The international scientific community once thought Enceladus, a small moon of Saturn, might be inhospitable to life due to its absence of phosphorus, an element that is essential to the DNA, biofilms and bones that make up living organisms.The research team has recently performed a geochemical modeling experiment that simulates the chemical environment of Enceladus' ocean.The models suggest that Enceladus' ocean may be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, meaning that there is a higher possibility that the ocean of Enceladus is habitable, according to the research paper published on September 19."Phosphorus can only be used by organisms if it is dissolved in water. The water on Enceladus is highly alkaline and oxygen-free compared to the water on Earth. It's kind of like 'soda,'" Hao was quoted saying in the report.The research team found that in this "soda" environment, phosphorus-containing rocks in Enceladus' core could have dissolved a considerable amount of phosphorus into the ocean water during a period of 100,000 years.The research paper noted that a liquid water ocean might have existed for hundreds of millions to several billion years inside Enceladus. Therefore, the dissolution of phosphates and other minerals can be expected to have released considerable amounts of phosphorus into the ocean.