Volcanic Island lightning prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life in the early Hadean eon

Jeffrey L Bada

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37894-y

Volcanic Island lightning prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life in the early Hadean eon

Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 10;14(1):2011. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37894-y.

Author

Jeffrey L Bada¹

Affiliation

¹ Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92024, USA. jbada@ucsd.edu.

Abstract

The early Hadean eon (>4Ga) may have had a periodically ice-covered global ocean and limited subaerial landmass, and this could have resulted in infrequent lightning occurrence. This infrequency of lightning may have limited the synthesis of prebiotic compounds necessary for life’s origins. Here I present a hypothesis that lightning associated with volcanic island eruptions created focal points for the generation of prebiotic ingredients and ultimately the origin of life.