An astrobiologist constructs a formal deductive argument to establish the habitability potential of a planetary body. Complete the argument by identifying the missing premise that logically and deductively guarantees the truth of the conclusion.
Answer:Premise 1: Every marine hydrothermal system that exhibits active serpentinization produces continuous alkaline fluid emissions.
Premise 2: The benthic floor of the Kraken Mare basin exhibits active serpentinization.
Premise 3: Any geological formation that produces continuous alkaline fluid emissions is 【viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis】.
Conclusion: Therefore, the benthic floor of the Kraken Mare basin is viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis.
Premise 2: The benthic floor of the Kraken Mare basin exhibits active serpentinization.
Premise 3: Any geological formation that produces continuous alkaline fluid emissions is 【viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis】.
Conclusion: Therefore, the benthic floor of the Kraken Mare basin is viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis.
Answer
The missing premise must establish that producing continuous alkaline fluid emissions is sufficient to make a geological formation viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis.
The argument establishes two links: the benthic floor of Kraken Mare exhibits active serpentinization (KM -> AS), and active serpentinization produces continuous alkaline fluid emissions (AS -> AFE), which yields the intermediate deduction that the benthic floor of Kraken Mare produces alkaline fluid emissions (KM -> AFE). To guarantee the conclusion that the benthic floor is viable for prebiotic amino acid synthesis (KM -> PAAS), the missing premise must provide a 100% deductive bridge from alkaline fluid emissions to viability for prebiotic amino acid synthesis (AFE -> PAAS).
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Sufficient Assumption conditional bridging (Hypothetical Syllogism)