I don&#x27;t mean &quot;new&quot; in the sense of the studies are new. I mean &quot;new&quot; in the sense that nothing like this has even been observed in nature.<p>I misread the article about the terrestrial part.<p>I responded to your parent comment about localized high concentrations being required for chemotrophs. In deep sea vents, oxidizable chemicals are fresh. Organisms have time to harness their energy before it is naturally depleted through chemical reactions. This would not happen in the proposed scenario as the iron would have plenty of time to react before being washed into the ocean.