DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1988.0072. Planetary environments and the conditions of life

Planetary environments and the conditions of life

10.1098/rsta.1988.0072

Crossref journal-article

The Royal Society

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (175)

Abstract

Life arose on Earth within a billion years (1 Ga) after planetary accretion and core formation. The geological record, which begins 3.8 Ga bp, indicates environmental conditions much like today’s, except for the absence of oxygen. By 3.5 Ga bp microbial ecosystems were already colonizing shallow marine hydrothermal environments along shorelines of volcanic islands. Although similar environments could have existed more than 3.8 Ga bp, they may not have been the spawning grounds of life. Geophysical models of the first 600 Ma of Earth history following accretion and core formation point to a period of great environmental disequilibrium. In such an environment the passage of energy from Earth’s interior and from the Sun through gas—liquid—solid domains and their boundaries with each other generated a dynamically interacting, complex hierarchy of self-organized structures, ranging from bubbles at the sea—air interface to tectonic plates. Nested within this hierarchy were the precursors of living systems. The ability of a planet to produce such a hierarchy is speculated to be a prerequisite for the origin and sustenance of life. Application of this criterion to Mars, which apparently experienced no plate tectonism, argues against the origin of martian life. Because only further geological and biogeochemical exploration of the planet can place these qualitative speculations on firm ground, the search for evidence of extinct life on Mars continues to be of highest scientific priority.

Bibliography

Planetary environments and the conditions of life. (1988). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 325(1587), 601â610.

Authors 0

None

References 28 Referenced 14

10.1038/327348a0
10.1038/319489a0
Cairns-Smith A. G. 1982 Genetic takeover and the mineral origins of life. Cambridge University Press.
Carr M. H. 1986 Icarus 68 187-216. (10.1016/0019-1035(86)90019-9)
Chang S. DesMargis D. Mack R. Miller S. L. & Strathearn G. E. 1983 In earliest biosphere (ed. J. W. Schopf) pp. 53-92. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Corliss J. B. Baross J. A. & Hoffman S. E. 1981 Oceanologica Acta (Proc. 26 Int. Geol. Cong.) Special Issue 59_69
Ernst G. W. 1983 In Earth's earliest biosphere (ed. J. W. Schopf). Princeton University Press.
Fox S. W. & Dose K. 1972 Molecular evolution and the origin of life. San Francisco: Freeman.
Hartman H. 1984 In Microbial 449-454. New York: Alan R. Liss. mats:stromatolites (eds Y. Cohen R. W. Castenholz & H. O. Halvorson) pp.
Jakosky B. M. & Ahrens T. J. 1979 In Proc. 10th Lunar Planet Sci. Conf pp. 2727-2739. New York: Pergamon Press.
Kasting J. F. 1987 Precambrian Res. 34 205-228. (10.1016/0301-9268(87)90001-5)
10.1029/RG017i007p01655
Lahav N. & Chang S. 1976 J. molec Evol. 8 357-380. (10.1007/BF01739261)
{'key': 'p_14', 'first-page': '32', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '17', 'author': 'Lerman L.', 'year': '1986', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Lerman L. (1986)
Margulis L. 1981 Symbiosis in cell evolution. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
10.1038/319303a0
Nicolis G. & Prigogine I. 1977 Self-organization in nonequilibrium : from dissipative structures to order through fluctuations. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
{'key': 'p_18', 'first-page': '27', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '17', 'author': 'Orgel L. E.', 'year': '1986', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Orgel L. E. (1986)
{'key': 'p_19', 'first-page': '97', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '16', 'author': 'Pace N. R.', 'year': '1985', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Pace N. R. (1985)
Pollack J. B. Kasting J. F. Richardson S. M. & Poliakoff K. 1987 Icarus. (In the press.)
Schopf J. W. & Walter M. R. 1983 In Earth's earliest biosphere (ed. J. W. Schopf) pp. 214-238. Princeton University Press.
{'key': 'p_22', 'first-page': '353', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '15', 'author': 'Shukla J.', 'year': '1985', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Shukla J. (1985)
Stevenson D. J. 1983 In Earth's earliest biosphere (ed. J. W. Schopf) Princeton University Press.
{'key': 'p_24', 'first-page': '9', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '1', 'author': 'Sylvester-Bradley P. C.', 'year': '1976', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Sylvester-Bradley P. C. (1976)
{'key': 'p_25', 'first-page': '6005', 'article-title': 'J. geophys', 'volume': '83', 'author': 'Walker D.', 'year': '1978', 'journal-title': 'Res.'} / Res. / J. geophys by Walker D. (1978)
{'key': 'p_26', 'first-page': '117', 'article-title': 'Origin', 'volume': '16', 'author': 'Walker J. C. G.', 'year': '1986', 'journal-title': 'Life'} / Life / Origin by Walker J. C. G. (1986)
Walter M. R. 1983 In Earth's earliest biosphere (ed. J. W. Schopf) pp. 187-212. Princeton University Press.
Zahnle K. J. Kasting J. F. & Pollack J. B. 1988 Icarus. (In the press.)

Dates

Type	When
Created	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 18, 2006, 6:49 p.m.)
Deposited	4 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 18, 2021, 9:41 a.m.)
Indexed	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 2, 2024, 12:44 p.m.)
Issued	37 years, 1 month ago (July 29, 1988)
Published	37 years, 1 month ago (July 29, 1988)
Published Online	28 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 1, 1997)
Published Print	37 years, 1 month ago (July 29, 1988)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{1988, volume={325}, ISSN={2054-0272}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1988.0072}, DOI={10.1098/rsta.1988.0072}, number={1587}, journal={Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences}, publisher={The Royal Society}, year={1988}, month=jul, pages={601–610} }

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