EOSC 116 Study Guide - Mid-Ocean Ridge, Nautiloid, Conodont
8 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
Earth and solar system formed about 4. 5-4. 6 billion years ago (ga) Water: prerequisite for life on earth: surface cool enough to support liquid water by 3. 8 ga. Biosphere: thin layer of life that surrounds the surface of the planet: penetrates a bit into the crust and is present in the atmosphere. Interacts with the lithosphere (solid earth), hydrosphere (liquid water), cryosphere (ice), and atmosphere (air: life regulates surface conditions on earth. Panspermia (1) panspermia: life was brought to earth (2) earth-based origin: ocean margin hypothesis (3) earth-based origin: deep ocean hydrothermal vent hypothesis. Organic molecules brought to earth by impacts of extraterrestrial bodies. Life may have been transported to earth as microbes. Haldane: conditions on earth favored chemical reactions that produced organic compounds from inorganic material. Did not represent the true composition of the archean atmosphere: established that it is possible to produce organic molecules via abiogenic processes.
