caa a22 4500 46574513X CHVBK 20180323111818.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170327e19900301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF01808281 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF01808281 Impact constraints on the environment for chemical evolution and the continuity of life [Elektronische Daten] [Verne Oberbeck, Guy Fogleman] The Moon and the Earth were bombarded heavily by planetesimals and asteroids that were capable of interfering with chemical evolution and the origin of life. In this paper, we explore the frequency of giant terrestrial impacts able to stop prebiotic chemistry in the probable regions of chemical evolution. The limited time available between impacts disruptive to prebiotic chemistry at the time of the oldest evidence of life suggests the need for a rapid process for chemical evolution of life. The classical hypothesis for the origin of life through the slow accumulation of prebiotic reactants in the primordial soup in the entire ocean may not be consistent with constraints imposed by the impact history of Earth. On the other hand, rapid chemical evolution in cloud systems and lakes or other shallow evaporating water bodies would have been possible because reactants could have been concentrated and polymerized rapidly in this environment. Thus, life probably could have originated near the surface between frequent surface sterilizing impacts. There may not have been continuity of life depending on sunlight because there is evidence that life, existing as early as 3.8 Gyr ago, may have been destroyed by giant impacts. The first such organisms on Earth where probably not the ancestors of present life. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990 Oberbeck Verne NASA Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, USA aut Fogleman Guy SETI Institute, Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, USA aut Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere Kluwer Academic Publishers 20/2(1990-03-01), 181-195 0169-6149 20:2<181 1990 20 11084 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01808281 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01808281 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Oberbeck Verne NASA Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Fogleman Guy SETI Institute, Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere Kluwer Academic Publishers 20/2(1990-03-01), 181-195 0169-6149 20:2<181 1990 20 11084 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer