Atmospheric levels of NOx and O2 on the prebiotic Earth and their possible role in the origin of life

Details Atmospheric levels of NOx and O2 on the prebiotic Earth and their possible role in the origin of life Atmospheric levels of NOx and O2 on the prebiotic Earth and their possible role in the origin of life

Apr 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja......254s&link_type=abstract

EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #254

Computer Science

Scientific paper

In a recent paper, we describe a molecular engine which works at ambient temperature and continuously generates, elongates and complexifies sequential peptides. This new scenario is based on a cyclic reaction sequence that could have taken place on tidal beaches; it requires a buffered ocean, emerged land and a nitrosating atmosphere containing some nitrogen oxides and molecular oxygen. In this context we investigated the possible levels of nitrogen oxide and molecular oxygen in the atmosphere of the early Earth and Mars. The main likely sources of abiotic oxygen are the photolysis of water vapor (if associated with hydrogen escape) and of carbon dioxide. NOx can be formed at high temperature by lightning, impacts and meteors but also by photochemistry when the early solar fluxes of EUV and X-rays were much higher. We considered different possible compositions for primitive atmospheres and calculated the upper and lower limits on the levels of NOx et O2. We show that, at least locally in space or time, and for some of the compositions investigated, the levels obtained for these species are compatible with a significant production and complexification of peptides through the proposed molecular engine.

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