Researchers Discover the 'Primordial Womb'

The origin of life on Earth has been an issue long debated by researchers. One of the theories refers to the famous primordial soup, and a study carried out by a team of Arizona University researchers comes to complete the puzzle of life on Earth.

Geochemist Lynda Williams and her colleagues have discovered that certain clay minerals on the ocean floor acted as incubators for the first organic molecules which emerged on Earth.

Williams and her team mimicked the conditions found in hydrothermal vents along the lines where tectonic plates converge on the ocean floor.

The vents are fissures in the seafloor that spew out super-hot water, much like an underwater volcano. From earlier work, the research team knew that, with high enough temperatures and pressure, volcanic emanations could produce the chemical compound methanol. What scientists did not know was how the methanol could survive such intense temperatures (300 to 400 degrees Celsius).

"When I first heard that, I thought, 'That's strange'", Williams says. "Methanol is supposed to break down at those temperatures. I asked myself, 'What can protect it?' The answer is, 'Common clay minerals.' "

Williams hypothesized that the expandable clay surrounding the hydrothermal vents might have served as a "primordial womb" for the infant molecules, sheltering them within its mineral layers.

She devised an experiment that would test whether the organic compound methanol would be protected between the clay layers.

Williams and her team simulated the intense heat and pressure of the ocean floor with a pressurized vessel. The reaction of the clay and methanol was monitored over six weeks. The team found that the expandable clay not only protected the methanol, but also promoted reactions that formed even more complex organic compounds.

Scientists theorize that the diverse organic molecules protected within the clay might eventually be expelled into an environment more hospitable to life, creating an "organic soup."

In addition, this discovery implies that life is possible on planets which have been disregarded so far because of the harsh environments.