Submarine hot springs and the origin of life

The popular hypothesis that life originally arose in hydrothermal vents at oceanic ridge crests is examined. It is shown that the high temperatures in the vents would not allow synthesis of organic compounds, but would decompose them, unless the exposure time at vent temperature was short. Even if t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1988-08, Vol.334 (6183), p.609-611
Main Authors: Miller, Stanley L., Bada, Jeffrey L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acids - chemical synthesis
Amino Acids - chemistry
Carbohydrates - chemical synthesis
Carbohydrates - chemistry
DNA - chemical synthesis
DNA - chemistry
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Evolution
Evolution, Chemical
Exact sciences and technology
Geochemistry
Geological Phenomena
Geology
Hot springs
Hot Temperature
Hydrolysis
Life Sciences (General)
Marine Biology
Oceans
Oceans and Seas
Origin of Life
Paleontology
Paleontology: general
Peptides - chemical synthesis
Peptides - chemistry
RNA - chemical synthesis
RNA - chemistry
Space life sciences
Time Factors
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Summary:The popular hypothesis that life originally arose in hydrothermal vents at oceanic ridge crests is examined. It is shown that the high temperatures in the vents would not allow synthesis of organic compounds, but would decompose them, unless the exposure time at vent temperature was short. Even if the essential organic molecules were available in the hot hydrothermal waters, the subsequent steps of polymerization and the conversion of these polymers into the first organisms would not occur as the vent waters were quenched to the colder temperatures of the primitive oceans.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/334609a0