The Primordial Womb - 11/13/05 02:52 PM
Arizona State University geochemist Lynda Williams and her colleagues have discovered that certain clay minerals under conditions at the bottom of the ocean may have acted as incubators for the first organic molecules on Earth.
Williams' research suggests how some of the fundamental materials necessary for life might have come into existence deep in the sea. The results of Williams' experiments were published in the article, "Organic Molecules Formed in a Primordial Womb," in the November issue of Geology.
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.
Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051112125422.htm
Williams' research suggests how some of the fundamental materials necessary for life might have come into existence deep in the sea. The results of Williams' experiments were published in the article, "Organic Molecules Formed in a Primordial Womb," in the November issue of Geology.
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.
Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051112125422.htm