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4 January, 03:17

Describe the volcanic-atmosphere hypothesis about the origin of life on Earth and discuss the evidence that supports this hypothesis.

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  1. 4 January, 06:11
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    The general origin of life, OoL, theories rely on a source of solid elements - carbon, phosphorous, sulfur, gases - carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, abiotic solids and fluids, and an energy source - meteorites, comets, solar radiation or geologic activity such as volcanoes or hydrothermal vents. The energy sources are critical to apply thermal energy that could stimulate chemical and geologic activity. This is the proposed value of volcanoes in early earth origin of life, OoL, theories, which has a number of levels. Of primary value is the thermal energy given off by the volcano that can stimulate movement and chemical interaction of minerals, water, gases and compounds near the volcano. Additionally, the minerals, water, and gas given off by the volcano are considered important to produce the biochemical assembly of compounds into molecules that would then cause gradually increasingly more complex biochemical assembly, eventually leading to the OoL.

    On the atmospheric level volcanoes have been considered possibly viable to support the Oparin-Haldane theory, which proposed the emission of biochemically rich gases that utilized volcanic, solar and atmospheric energy sources to precipitate biochemical molecules that led to a prebiotic soup of compounds that eventually led to the OoL.

    1. There is no evidence that a prebiotic soup ever formed under any conditions.

    2. There is evidence some oxygen is released in volcanic eruptions, oxygen being fatal to biochemical compounds due to oxidation.

    3. The energy released by volcanoes is not regulated, so energy applied to some chemical compounds to cause assembly can just as readily destroy.

    4. The flow of gas, water and mineral movement is not regulated, so the fine-tuned critical OoL chemical concentrations, colocation, coincidence and contamination are severe.

    5. The processes for biochemical assembly at successively higher levels are not standard nor similar, requiring changing conditions beyond a single volcanic deposit or Darwinian "warm little pond."

    6. The detail and complexity of the critical amino acids, proteins, nucleotide assemblies, cell membranes and metabolic enzymes and chemical structures are too sensitive and diverse to ever possibly have been assembled in a volcanic environment.

    Consequently, volcanoes are not viable as a OoL source. This hypothesis is actively supported because of philosophical naturalism, which requires totally physical processes, which are non-existent or inadequate for OoL
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