CHED 758 |
| It is suggested that life (with the approximate formula [CH2O]x) emerged where the H2 dissolved in submarine hot springs (pH ~10, T ≤110°C), reduced the CO2 dissolved in the most ancient ocean (pH ~5, T ≤20°C). Reactions between the two volatiles took place in iron-nickel sulfide pores within a hydrothermal vent. The iron-nickel sulfides also acted as fresh catalysts in the generation of acetate, amino acids, peptides and possibly nucleotides. The vent was the hatchery of life, and the eluting vent fluids bore life's first waste products from energy generation back to the ocean. Thermodynamic energy for biosynthesis was augmented by an ambient protonmotive force, a consequence of the acidic ocean interfacing the alkaline hydrothermal fluid through the inorganic iron-nickel sulfide membranous barriers at the vent. A thermal gradient was also obtained across the pores, sufficient to concentrate organic products by thermal diffusion and to drive a convective polymerase chain reaction.
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Chemical Evolution from Origins of Life to Modern Society
1:30 PM-4:55 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Jasperwood, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |
