This workshop will be the 8^th meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute Thermodynamics, Disequilibrium and Evolution (TDE) focus group, and the principal aim of this workshop is to discuss the conditions for early Earth conducive for the emergence of life. The TDE focus group seeks to understand how disequilibria are generated in geological/chemical/biological systems, and how these disequilibria can lead to emergent phenomena, such as self-organization and eventually, metabolism. Life itself is an out-of-equilibrium system that operates by harnessing gradients across membranes. Disequilibrium in inorganic chemical systems also leads to the formation of a variety of patterns, structures, and dynamical systems. Understanding chemical self-organizing processes may be instructive in comparing to biological systems, and also may reveal some of the processes behind life's origin. Previous meetings of the TDE focus group have focused on specific sub-topics that are of interest to focus group members as well as the general astrobiology community. For this proposed fall 2014 meeting, we are interested in focusing on geochemical disequilibria generated at seafloor interfaces on wet rocky planets, and in particular, investigating the thermodynamic and chemical phenomena that emerge from this inherent disequilibria at water-rock interfaces. Water-rock interfaces provide disequilibrium, generate electrochemical energy, and may have contributed to the emergence of life on Earth. In particular, in this workshop we will focus on 1) geochemical energy generated at hydrothermal vents, 2) the occurrence of mineral precipitates/proto-membranes at geochemical fluid interfaces (and formation of mineral structures similar to biotic ones), and 3) hypotheses regarding geochemical energy generation on other worlds that may also host seafloor interfaces, such as Europa, Enceladus, or in the past, early Mars.

Program
Monday November 10
　　Morning Preparations:
- The last visiting participants arrive
- Afternoon Session(13:30-)
- Greetings from Hirose/Ueno, or ELSI representative
- General announcements
- Laurie Barge, Eugenio Simoncini. TED: Past-Present-Future
- Round discussion:
Workshop aims, white/review paper, Goldschmidt 2015 session proposal.
- Coffee, Evening Events.

Tuesday November 11
- Morning Session: Emergence of bioenergetics (9:30-12:00)
o Elbert Branscomb
Disequilibrium and the cause of all things
o Julyan Cartwright
Beyond hydrothermal vents: geological chemical gardens from ice, mud, and Rio Tinto
o Coffee Break
o Laurie Barge
Chemical Gardens, Geological Disequilibrium, and the Origin of Life
o Terence Kee
Hybrid Spectroscopic-Model Characterization of Non-ideal Aqueous Systems
- Afternoon discussion (13:30-)
o Michael Russell
Driving the very first steps to metabolism
- Open Discussion
- ELSI coffee hour

Wednesday November 12
- Session: Thermodynamics of water/rock interfaces (10:00-12:30)
o Kirt Robinson
Inorganic Carbon Reduction during Serpentinization:Carbon Compounds of Various Redox States in Disequilibrium in Serpentinizing Fluids
o Pablo Sobron
To be announced
o Coffee Break
o Douglas Galante
Simulated and analogue planetary environments: applications for the origin and resilience of biological systems
o Silvana Cardoso
Flow of carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth's subsurface and in the ocean
- Afternoon discussion (14:00-)
o Stephen Mojzsis
Availability and transformation of bio-essential elements on the Hadean Earth during late accretion
- Open Discussion
- ELSI coffee hour

Thursday November 13
- Session: Atmospheric disequilibrium on wet rocky planets (10:00-12:30)
o Eugenio Simoncini
Disequilibrium and the effect of Life on planetary atmosphere(s)
o Sebastian Danielache
Chemistry and modeling
o Coffee Break
o Yamila Miguel
Hot rocky to gas planets: modeling exoplanet atmospheres
o Tomasso Grassi
Chemistry modelling with KROME.
- Afternoon discussion (14:00-)
- ELSI coffee hour
- Workshop dinner

Friday November 14
- Wrap-up discussion and group photo (09:30-)
- Tour to JAMSTEC, Yokosuka Headquarters
Please gather in the Communication Room 1F ELSI building at 11:30
Bus will leave Tokyo Tech at 11:45

Saturday November 15
- Participants depart, or stay at ELSI for collaboration visits

Registration: The workshop is open to ELSI members, researchers and students working in the field. Contact Sebastian Danielache (Sebastian.d_at_sophia.ac.jp)