Other
Scientific paper
Jun 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002oleb...32..247n&link_type=abstract
Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, v. 32, Issue 3, p. 247-253 (2002).
Other
5
Dry Solvent, Hydrocarbons, Molecular Interactions, Oil Layer, Reducing Atmosphere
Scientific paper
Low molecular weight liquid hydrocarbons from various sources, could have formed an oil layer covering the primeval ocean (present already 4.0-4.4 × 109 yr ago), preventing water from evaporating into the atmosphere. Water from other sources, precipitated by cold traps at higher altitude in the atmosphere, becomes trapped in the ocean. In a thereby more dry and presumably reducing atmosphere (before 3.9 × 109 yr ago) even more hydrocarbons, as well as reactive molecules will form. An oil layer can possibly act as a dry solvent for reactions, where the reactive molecules can produce monomers and condensing agents. Monomers and eventual polymers formed could become strongly concentrated at the oil-water interface, favouring molecular interactions at high mobility and low dilution, without exposure to the destructive action of UV-light. Increased water leakiness of the oil layer due to accumulation of polar molecules within, would lead to photo-oxidation of liquid hydrocarbons, and subsequent emulsification at the oil-water interface, forming cellular structures. The atmosphere would then have lost its reducing character.
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