Deep sea hydrothermal vents provide the chemical energy required to spark self-replicating life
Hydrothermal vents on the seafloor may have acted as the chemical crucibles for life, using alkaline gradients to power the first self-replicating molecules four billion years ago.
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents create natural proton gradients that mirror the way modern cells generate energy. These mineral-rich chimneys provide the necessary thermal and chemical conditions to catalyze the formation of complex organic molecules from simple carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This 'vent hypothesis' suggests life began not in a sunlit pond, but in the crushing darkness of the ocean floor roughly 4.2 billion years ago.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 2-question quiz