학술논문
Prebiotic synthesis at impact craters: the role of Fe-clays and iron meteorites.
Document Type
Article
Author
Source
Subject
*IRON meteorites
*IMPACT craters
*SMECTITE
*AMINO acids
*BASALT
*UREA
*
*
*
*
*
Language
ISSN
1359-7345
Abstract
Besides delivering plausible prebiotic feedstock molecules and high-energy initiators, extraterrestrial impacts could also affect the process of abiogenesis by altering the early Earth's geological environment in which primitive life was conceived. We show that iron-rich smectites formed by reprocessing of basalts due to the residual post-impact heat could catalyze the synthesis and accumulation of important prebiotic building blocks such as nucleobases, amino acids and urea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]