The same goes for deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Some microorganisms thrive in the scalding, highly acidic hot springs environments like those found today in Iceland, Norway and Yellowstone National Park. Two possibilities are in volcanically active hydrothermal environments on land and at sea. However, it does not provide enough evidence to prove life’s existence at that early date. Scientists have found traces of a form of carbon-an important element in living organisms- in one such 4.1 billion-year-old zircon. Some hints come from the oldest zircons, highly durable minerals that formed in magma. The details of those early events are not well preserved in Earth’s oldest rocks. During that 600 million-year window, life may have emerged repeatedly, only to be snuffed out by catastrophic collisions with asteroids and comets. The oldest known fossils, however, are only 3.7 billion years old. Scientists think that by 4.3 billion years ago, Earth may have developed conditions suitable to support life. What research are UChicago scientists currently conducting on the origins of life?Įarth is about 4.5 billion years old.What is chirality and why is it biologically important?.What are the major scientific theories for how life emerged?.What are the ingredients of life on Earth?.
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