HOT SPRINGS AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE: SIMULATING ANCIENT ATMOSPHERES IN MODERN GEOTHERMAL ENVIRONMENTS

International Conference on Recent Trends in Geoscience Research and Applications, 15–19 September 2025 (pp. 50-54)

АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Dragan LUKIĆ

САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:

Understanding the origin of life requires investigating the environmental conditions and biochemical processes that shaped the transition from prebiotic chemistry to early cellular life. This study focuses on terrestrial hot springs as analog environments for early Earth, proposing that life may have originated in these geochemically rich, thermally dynamic systems. Geological and molecular evidence suggests early life forms were thermophilic, adapted to high temperatures similar to those in modern hot springs. These environments—characterized by minerals like iron and sulfur, thermal gradients, and wet-dry cycles—facilitate key reactions such as carbon fixation and the formation of protocell structures. Using thermophilic organisms as modern analogs, we propose experiments that simulate early atmospheric compositions within enclosed hot spring systems to study microbial responses and chemical evolution. This approach not only enhances our understanding of early Earth biochemistry but also informs the search for life in analogous extraterrestrial environments, such as Mars and Europa. Our findings aim to shed light on how life may have emerged and evolved under varying atmospheric and geochemical conditions.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:

Hot springs; Origin of Life; Thermophiles; Hydrothermal Vents; Early Earth Atmosphere

ПРОЈЕКАТ / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

“This research was supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, grant no. 6775, Urban Observatory of Belgrade – UrbObsBel, and Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation”. The authors acknowledge funding provided by the Institute of Physics Belgrade through the grants by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia.

ЛИТЕРАТУРА / REFERENCES:

Amend, J. P., and Shock, E. L. (2001). Energetics of overall metabolic reactions of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic Archaea and Bacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 25(2), 175.
Bada, J. L. (2004). How life began on Earth: A status report. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 226(1–2), 1.
Brocks, J. J., Logan, G. A., Buick, R. et al. (1999). Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes. Science, 285(5430), 1033.
Gaucher, E. A., Kratzer, J. T., and Randall, R. N. (2010). Deep phylogeny—how a tree can help characterize early life on Earth. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol., 2(1), a002238.
Hoyle, F. (1972). The History of the Earth. Quart. J. Roy. Astron. Soc., 13, 328.
Kelley, D.S., Karson, J. A., Früh-Green, G.L. et al. (2005). A serpentinite-hosted ecosystem: The Lost City hydrothermal field. Science, 307(5714), 1428.
Leman, L., Orgel, L., and Ghadiri, M.R. (2004). Carbonyl sulfide–mediated prebiotic formation of peptides. Science, 306(5694), 283.
Maruyama, S., Kurokawa, K., Ebisuzaki, T. et al. (2019). Nine requirements for the origin of Earth’s life: Not at the hydrothermal vent, but in a nuclear geyser system. Geosci. Front., 10(4), 1337.
Martin, W., Baross, J., Kelley, D. et al. (2008). Hydrothermal vents and the origin of life. Nat. Rev. Microbiol., 6(11), 805.
Nan, J., Luo, S., Tran, Q.P. et al. (2024). Iron sulfide-catalyzed gaseous CO₂ reduction and prebiotic carbon fixation in terrestrial hot springs. Nat. Commun., 15, 10280