Many claims of where life originated can be dismissed, such as many religious answers, because they lack scientific evidence. Therefore, this paper will focus solely on theories that are substantiated with evidence. The three most prominent and well supported theories argue that life came to existence inside hydrothermal vents, hydrothermal impact crater-lakes, and terrestrial, anoxic geothermal vents; these theories claim that life originated inside Earth and this notion is well supported. The correct theory must be able account for the fact that life emerged roughly 3.8 billion years ago, the short time gap between the formation of oceans and the origin of life, and the chemical composition of modern day cells (Baross and Hoffman, 1985).
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In a hydrothermal vent, life would have a continuous energy source and an abundance of biologically important elements. It is believed that hydrothermal vents during Archean Earth are nearly identical to modern hydrothermal vents (Baross and Hoffman, 1985). As a result, hydrothermal vents would be able to provide a continuous energy source to the first cells, protocells because modern hydrothermal vents are able to generate a continuous source of energy. In addition, it is believed that hydrothermal vents are able to facilitate precursors of organic material into organic material, while also retaining a pH levels that would allow protocells to emerge and evolve (Baross and Hoffman, 1985). This theory also is able to explain the short geologic time gap between the formation of oceans and the emergence of life because hydrothermal vents are found inside the oceans; if this theory is true, life did not emerge at least until hydrothermal formed, which requires an ocean; this would help explain the short time gap. Hence, this theory is a promising and compelling because it is able to solve a majority of the prerequisites, but it did not resolve all of …show more content…
It is proposed that this crater would have formed in Earth during the Hadean era, which was an era where the Solar System, including Earth, experienced heavy bombardment from meteors (Cockell, 2006). The Hadean era ended roughly 3.8 billion years ago, which was succeeded by the Archean era. Therefore, this theory is able to account for the fact that life emerged roughly 3.8 billion years ago because the crater would have been on Earth by then. It is also believed that inside these freshwater crater basins, they would contain low salinity levels, a neutral pH level, variable redox states of iron and sulfur, low salinity, high potassium/sodium ratio, and the correct composition of modern day cells. However, this theory is inept at explaining the short geologic time gap between the formation of the first oceans and the emergence of life. This does not mean the theory is incorrect because the short time gap could be a coincidence; however, if a theory is able to explain all of the aforementioned and the short time gap, that theory is more likely to be
In a hydrothermal vent, life would have a continuous energy source and an abundance of biologically important elements. It is believed that hydrothermal vents during Archean Earth are nearly identical to modern hydrothermal vents (Baross and Hoffman, 1985). As a result, hydrothermal vents would be able to provide a continuous energy source to the first cells, protocells because modern hydrothermal vents are able to generate a continuous source of energy. In addition, it is believed that hydrothermal vents are able to facilitate precursors of organic material into organic material, while also retaining a pH levels that would allow protocells to emerge and evolve (Baross and Hoffman, 1985). This theory also is able to explain the short geologic time gap between the formation of oceans and the emergence of life because hydrothermal vents are found inside the oceans; if this theory is true, life did not emerge at least until hydrothermal formed, which requires an ocean; this would help explain the short time gap. Hence, this theory is a promising and compelling because it is able to solve a majority of the prerequisites, but it did not resolve all of …show more content…
It is proposed that this crater would have formed in Earth during the Hadean era, which was an era where the Solar System, including Earth, experienced heavy bombardment from meteors (Cockell, 2006). The Hadean era ended roughly 3.8 billion years ago, which was succeeded by the Archean era. Therefore, this theory is able to account for the fact that life emerged roughly 3.8 billion years ago because the crater would have been on Earth by then. It is also believed that inside these freshwater crater basins, they would contain low salinity levels, a neutral pH level, variable redox states of iron and sulfur, low salinity, high potassium/sodium ratio, and the correct composition of modern day cells. However, this theory is inept at explaining the short geologic time gap between the formation of the first oceans and the emergence of life. This does not mean the theory is incorrect because the short time gap could be a coincidence; however, if a theory is able to explain all of the aforementioned and the short time gap, that theory is more likely to be