GEO 103 Lecture 17: Archean and Proterozoic
10 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
All organisms are composed of c, h, n, and o. All of which were present in early atmosphere: Energy from lightning and uv radiation promoted early chemical reactions. Formation of monomers - simple organic molecules such as amino acids. Hydrothermal vents may also be an energy source. What they did was that water was boiled and the water vapor flowed into a chamber of gases like hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and water vapor and used sparks to simulate the lightning in the atmosphere. What this led to was the formation of amino acids (combination of these gases) which are organic compounds that are found in a lot of living things. Demonstrated formation of monomers (amino acids) by abiological processes. Now know that such an atmosphere implausible - too reducing. Other experiments have synthesized all 20 amino acids found in organisms. Nucleic acids, including rna -ribonucleic acid and dna - deoxyribonucleic acid. These have no outer protective membrane so easily destroyed.
