The Condition of Early Earth

As mentioned earlier under the section "The Chemical Aspects of the Origin of Life", life did indeed originated from its abiotic surroundings. Thus, it is important for us to learn about the physical and chemical environments of the primitive Earth.

The atmophere of primitive Earth consisted of reactive, naturally availabe, molecules:

Nitrogen (N2), water (H2O), methane (CH4), and ammonia (NH3), etc. These molecules are basically what was needed to creat life -- in fact, the percentage of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, together consists 99.5 % of all matters. Along with carbon's versatility, constructions of an inexhaustible variety of organic molecules using roughly the same proportions of the essential elements thus took place. In fact, the percentage of essential elements of life -- C, N, O, H, P, and S -- are quite similar from individuals to individuals.

Energy wise, the primitive Earth had plenty from a variey of sources:

1. Radiation: from the cosmic and radioactive isotope decays
2. UV light: there were no protective ozone layer then
3. Electrical discharge: from the never ending lightning
4. Heat: young crust was volcanically acitve


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