P038
The Emergence of Life as a Planetary Process
The Emergence of Life as a Planetary Process
Session ID#: 249826
Session Description:
The origin of life is an enduring conundrum that requires multidisciplinary expertise to understand. Although the exact circumstances surrounding life’s emergence remain shrouded in mystery, geoscientific advances help constrain the processes responsible for the origin of the biosphere. What complex molecules were produced via atmospheric chemistry? What role did redox-sensitive minerals play in catalyzing protometabolic networks? How does mantle dynamics impact the generation of subaerial landmasses? Would bolide impacts have sterilized Earth in the deep past, or created prebiotic niches? Do wet–dry cycles incite organic chemistry to “evolve” prior to the onset of Darwinism? What would finding life on Enceladus teach us about life’s origins? Can we detect “prebiotic exoplanets” with future astronomical observatories? This session welcomes any study—be it theoretical, modeling, experimental, observational, fieldwork, or data analysis—that investigates the planetary processes that could have driven life’s emergence and early evolution.
Index Terms:
5210 Planetary atmospheres, clouds, and hazes [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
5215 Origin of life [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
5220 Hydrothermal systems and weathering on other planets [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
5225 Early environment of Earth [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
Primary Convener: Michael L Wong, Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth & Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States
Convener: Michael J Walter, Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States
See more of: Planetary Sciences