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Classic Experiments Revisited

Volcanoes could be responsible for life on earth

Oct 17, 2008 08:54 GMT  ·  By
Volcanoes emitting huge amounts of ash clouds could have been responsible for the onset of life on Earth
   Volcanoes emitting huge amounts of ash clouds could have been responsible for the onset of life on Earth

In the late 1950s, various experiments were carried out, all aimed at figuring out how exactly life started on Earth, from the "primordial soup." The surface of the planet was uninhabitable and the atmosphere was filled with poisonous gases, yet, somehow, amino-acids were formed and then developed into proteins, the building blocks of life.  

Now, using modern techniques, scientists at NASA started browsing through those results, in an attempt to rectify the results. Half a century ago, the widespread belief was that the atmosphere was made up of hydrogen, methane, and ammonia, so the experiments focused on passing electrical currents through a mixture of these gases and analyzed what happened afterwards.  

Currently, most of the scientific community believes that carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen were the main gases found in the air billions of years ago. Therefore, mixtures of these gases were subjected to sparks of electricity. Water found in the mix showed signs of shifting color and, when analyzed, scientists discovered several types of amino-acids. Previous experiments only revealed 12 amino-acids, whereas the recent ones uncovered 22.  

Most theories regarding the origin of life place the first living organism in oceanic waters, subjected to high-intensity lightning storms. The flow of electricity through the water could have triggered lots of chemical reactions which could have led to the development of the first living bacteria. However, scientists believe that volcanoes could have also been responsible for setting off such reactions, when ash particles thrown into the atmosphere during severe eruptions collided with ice particles and generated electrical discharges.  

"Since the young Earth was still hot from its formation, volcanoes were probably quite common then. The organic precursors for life could have been produced locally in tidal pools around volcanic islands, even if hydrogen, methane, and ammonia were scarce in the global atmosphere," said Daniel Glavin, scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.