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Earth & Life Outline - Finals
Earth & Life Outline - Finals
Planetesimals >>small solid celestial bodies that may have existed at the early development of the solar system were
floating around, the same zone where the terrestrial planets are now located.
The birth of Earth from the accumulation of asteroids and comets is estimated to occur about 4.5 billion years ago.
Propositions That Attempted To Explain How Life Began Billions Of Years Ago
Stage 1
Abiotic synthesis of polymers of nucleotides and amino acids
Alexander Oparin (Russian biochemist) and John Haldane (Scottish biologist)—1920s
>> proposed the spontaneous generation that produced the “primordial soup,” which eventually gave rise to living
cells
Formation Of Macromolecules:
Prebiotic (before life)
Abiotic (without life)
Prebiotic Soup > slow process involving gases and micromolecules which eventually became the origin of life on
Earth
Following are some of the ideas and arguments proposed:
Reducing atmosphere hypothesis
Stanley Miller (Jewish-America chemist) & Harold Urey (Miller’s doctoral adviser)—1953
→The very first experiment to test the prebiotic soup theory was conducted wherein they designed replica castes of
primitive Earth, which contained a mixture of water vapor (HO), hydrogen gas (H) methane (CH), and ammonia (NH).
They exposed this setup to electrical discharge to induct a chemical reaction. Formation of hydrogen, cyanide and
formaldehyde (CH₂O) was observed after the experiment observed after the experiment. These products were
believed to be precursors for Bon of more complex molecules like amino acid and glycine. From this experiment, the
idea of the prebiotic soup, which formed into more complex molecules, is plausible.
Extraterrestrial hypothesis
Meteorites, comets, and asteroids sometimes reach the surface of primitive Earth. These materials are thought to
contain organic carbon. They also brought to Earth carbonaceous chondrites and significant amounts of amino acids
and nucleic bases. Although this idea was opposed repeatedly by the fact that intense heat can destroy the large
bodies in the atmosphere, it is still one of the hypotheses proposed to support the idea of the formation of life from the
prebiotic soup.
Deep-sea vent hypothesis
Günther Wächtershäuser (German organic chemist)—1988
→ proposed that organic molecules with the same composition as the prebiotic soup were formed in the cracks on
Earth’s surface underneath the ocean
Deep-sea vents
→ cracks where hot gases such as hydrogen sulfide (HS) and metal ions are released, heat the water on the vent,
and immediately mix with cold seawater.
→reveal the presence of complex biological communities that live and acquire energy not from the sun but from the
vent itself
From this mixture, a gradient is formed and organic molecules are synthesized.
Climate and temperature. The temperature of Earth’s surface is not uniform; even one country can have different
temperatures from north to south. Certain regions of Earth may be both tropical and temperate.
Atmosphere. The advent of organisms that were capable of photosynthesis caused the increase in the amount of
oxygen in the atmosphere.
Landmasses. Landmasses and surrounding bodies of water formed as the planet cooled down. These were the
environments that are known now as terrestrial and aquatic. The landmasses did not stay in their form and position;
they drifted and got separated from one another.
Floods. The influence of climate created massive and disastrous floods over different geological periods. These
floods occurred not just in two or three days but over longer periods, eventually causing the extinction of certain
organisms.
Glaciation. This is a process, state, or result of being covered by ice sheets or glaciers. One of the effects of
glaciation is the rise in the water level of oceans. Over periods of time, glaciers moved across different continents,
and polar ice caps melted.
Volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions that happened during the different geological periods likewise caused the
changes on Earth and organisms. Eruptions led to the formation of new landmasses, islands, and lakes. Single or
simultaneous eruptions much debris into the atmosphere. These volcanic emissions blocked the solar radiation that
passed through the atmosphere, causing lower temperature and limited photosynthesis.
Meteorite impact. Numerous meteorites passed through and landed on Earth over different geological periods.
Mass extinction. All of the events and changes that happened caused mass extinction of organisms at certain points
in Earth’s history. Five extinctions transpired over the end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and
Cretaceous periods. The fossils discovered and recovered by paleontologists, scientists who study the life of past
geological periods, helped in gathering data and determining the changes that happened in both the geological and
biological aspects of Earth billions of years ago.
2 types of mutations
Small scale mutation
Large scale mutation
Gregor Mendel» Father of genetics
6 types of glaciers
1) Cirque glaciers
2) Piedmont glaciers
3) Valley glaciers
4) Hanging glaciers
5) Ice field
6) Ice sheet
7) Alphine glaciers
Louiz Agassiz» Theory about glaciers in 1840