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    Black Smokers Reading

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    Sasa
    The document discusses evidence that life on Earth originated around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It provides three key points of evidence: 1) Genetic studies suggest the last universal common ancestor was an aquatic microbe that lived in the extreme temperatures of hydrothermal vents. 2) Fossils of ancient microbial communities around hot springs indicate early life thrived near chemical and heat sources. 3) Experiments replicating vent conditions produce building blocks of life like amino acids and cell-like structures, supporting vents as the location where life began. The document also notes hydrothermal vents may host life on other worlds like Enceladus and Europa.

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    Black Smokers Reading

    Uploaded by

    Sasa
    35 views3 pages
    The document discusses evidence that life on Earth originated around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It provides three key points of evidence: 1) Genetic studies suggest the last universal common ancestor was an aquatic microbe that lived in the extreme temperatures of hydrothermal vents. 2) Fossils of ancient microbial communities around hot springs indicate early life thrived near chemical and heat sources. 3) Experiments replicating vent conditions produce building blocks of life like amino acids and cell-like structures, supporting vents as the location where life began. The document also notes hydrothermal vents may host life on other worlds like Enceladus and Europa.

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    Black-Smokers-Reading

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    The document discusses evidence that life on Earth originated around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It provides three key points of evidence: 1) Genetic studies suggest the last universal common ancestor was an aquatic microbe that lived in the extreme temperatures of hydrothermal vents. 2) Fossils of ancient microbial communities around hot springs indicate early life thrived near chemical and heat sources. 3) Experiments replicating vent conditions produce building blocks of life like amino acids and cell-like structures, supporting vents as the location where life began. The document also notes hydrothermal vents may host life on other worlds like Enceladus and Europa.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    35 views3 pages

    Black Smokers Reading

    Uploaded by

    Sasa
    The document discusses evidence that life on Earth originated around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. It provides three key points of evidence: 1) Genetic studies suggest the last universal common ancestor was an aquatic microbe that lived in the extreme temperatures of hydrothermal vents. 2) Fossils of ancient microbial communities around hot springs indicate early life thrived near chemical and heat sources. 3) Experiments replicating vent conditions produce building blocks of life like amino acids and cell-like structures, supporting vents as the location where life began. The document also notes hydrothermal vents may host life on other worlds like Enceladus and Europa.

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    Black Smokers

    Reading

    When did the chemicals of life arise?


    • The solar system formed about 4.6 Ga ("giga ago" = billion years ago).
    • Isotopic evidence of life based on ratios of Carbon-12 and Carbon-13 in graphite from
    Labrador dated 3.95 Ga and Jack Hills dated 4.1 Ga.
    • Oldest known cell fossils are found in rocks dated 3.5 Ga.

    It is probable that chemical evolution began around 4 Ga and resulted in cells by 3.5 Ga.

    The environment of hydrothermal vents


    Deep sea vents are under tremendous pressure and are extremely hot. Hydrothermal vents account
    for appx. 10% of heat loss from the entire Earth. At high pressure, water can be heated up to 450°C
    and remain in liquid form. The superheated water dissolves compounds of iron, sulfur, nickel and
    reduced carbon. As this water flows out of volcanic vents it encounters water at 4°C and deposits
    the dissolved compounds forming “black smokers.”

    Hydrothermal circulation at a mid-ocean ridge system generates hot vents and a fauna
    independent from sunlight. (H Grobe/AWI 2015, Wikimedia Creative Commons)
    Black Smokers
    Reading

    Life around hydrothermal vents


    The ecosystems around hydrothermal vents are based on
    chemosynthesis. Bacteria use chemical energy to make sugar molecules
    (food). The reaction between hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from the vent and
    oxygen from sea water can power this reaction. Chemosynthetic bacteria
    are the basis of modern hydrothermal ecosystems.

    Evidence for chemical evolution around hydrothermal vents


    Observations
    • Genetic studies suggest that the most recent common ancestor of
    life is an aquatic microbe that lived at extremely high temperatures
    – just like those around hydrothermal vents.
    Black smoker at a mid-
    • Fossils of microbial communities around shallow continental hot ocean ridge (P Rona/ OAR/
    springs suggest that early life thrived in the presence of chemical NOAA, public domain)
    and heat energy from the early Earth.

    Experiments
    • The alkaline waters flowing from vents create a proton gradient when they encounter more
    acidic ocean water. This is similar to the way cells store energy. This energy could have
    eventually led to true cells with membranes.
    • Fatty acids readily form simple membranes and protocells in experimental conditions like those
    around early hydrothermal vents, further supporting the “black smoker” location for the origin
    of life.
    • Experiments replicating the water chemistry and heat around vents in early Earth result in the
    formation of amino acids and alpha hydroxy acids.

    Could vents host life on other worlds?


    Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has a coating of ice on the surface with salty ocean underneath. The
    Cassini mission discovered geyser-like jets erupting from its surface. This suggests the presence of
    hydrothermal vents around which life might evolve.

    Jupiter’s moon Europa is another possible body with hydrothermal activity. The Hubble space
    telescope has spotted possible water plumes erupting from the surface. NASA scientists study
    hydrothermal vents to gain a better understanding of how and where life might arise on other
    planets.
    Black Smokers
    Reading

    References:
    Baker ET (n.d.). Exploring for hydrothermal systems in the deep ocean: oases on the seafloor.
    Submarine Ring of Fire 2002. NOAA Ocean Explorer. from
    https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02fire/background/plumes/plumes.html
    Bell EA, Boehnke P, Harrison TM, Mao WL (2015). Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in 4.1
    billion-year-old zircon. PNAS 112(47): 14518-14521.
    https://www.pnas.org/content/112/47/14518
    Brazil R (2017). Hydrothermal vents and the origins of life. Royal Society of Chemistry accessed
    16 April 2020 https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/hydrothermal-vents-and-the-
    origins-of-life/3007088.article#/
    Djokic T, Van Kranendonk MJ, Campbell KA, Walter MR, Ward CR (2017). Earliest signs of life on
    land preserved in ca. 3.5 Ga hot spring deposits. Nature Communications 8: article number
    15263. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15263
    Jordan SF, Rammu H, Zheludev IN, et al. (2019). Promotion of protocell self-assembly from
    mixed amphiphiles at the origin of life. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1705-1714.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1015-y
    NASA (2018). Enceladus: Ocean Moon. NASA Solar System Exploration accessed 17 April 2020
    https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/science/enceladus/
    Starr M (2019). NASA Astrobiologists have recreated the deep-sea origins of life in the lab.
    Science Alert accessed 17 April 2020 https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-astrobiologists-
    have-recreated-the-deep-sea-origins-of-life-in-a-beaker
    Tashiro T, Ishida A, Hori M, et al. (2017). Early trace of life from 3.95 Ga sedimentary rocks in
    Labrador, Canada. Nature 549: 516-518. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24019

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