Monday, May 09, 2005

Mineral evidence paints life-friendly picture of early Earth

Mineral evidence paints life-friendly picture of early Earth
(San Francisco Chronicle)
Only a scant 200 million years after Earth was formed, our planet was already a watery world well suited for life to emerge, two scientists have concluded from fresh evidence they found in ancient microscopic minerals.

[…]

It shows a rocky crust already stable and possibly even undergoing continental drift; oceans of water, hot but not inhospitably so; a ready supply of organic molecules brought in by comets from far-off space; and ample energy—needed to build organic complexity—from a brilliant young sun.

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