DEEPSEA VENTS- Origin of Life?

ambience: Ocean

Scientists have long suspected that life on Earth originated in the ocean and strong evidence now suggests that the earliest life on our planet occurred in the depths of the ocean in the absence of heat and light. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Ro Kinzler is a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History. She’s been studying deep sea vents, cracks in the earth’s crust located on the ocean floor which release extremely hot water.

“Deep sea hydrothermal vent sites occur on the global mid-ocean ridges of our planet. They are living communities that exist thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea, more or less, in the absence of sunlight. And this was very exciting to scientists when they first discovered them in the late 1970s because up until that time, it was pretty much assumed that life required sunlight. And what they learned when they first observed these deep sea hydrothermal vent communities, was, in fact, life could exist on thermal and chemical energy as opposed to just sunlight. And so what they realized is that photosynthesis was not the only way to support life. We could say that this discovery stretches our concept of the origin of life on our own planet. Because these deep sea hydrothermal vents could be the most ancient sites of life on Earth.”

“Oceans have existed, more or less, since the beginning of Earth’s history. Life on the bottom of the oceans is actually well protected from variability on the surface of the Earth. This environment is insulated by the oceans and very, very old. And so for that reason, it’s a good candidate for the origin of life.”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

DEEPSEA VENTS- Origin of Life?

Scientists have long suspected that life on Earth originated in the ocean. Evidence now suggests the arena for this event was at the ocean’s bottom.
Air Date:08/19/1998
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ambience: Ocean

Scientists have long suspected that life on Earth originated in the ocean and strong evidence now suggests that the earliest life on our planet occurred in the depths of the ocean in the absence of heat and light. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Ro Kinzler is a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History. She's been studying deep sea vents, cracks in the earth's crust located on the ocean floor which release extremely hot water.

“Deep sea hydrothermal vent sites occur on the global mid-ocean ridges of our planet. They are living communities that exist thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea, more or less, in the absence of sunlight. And this was very exciting to scientists when they first discovered them in the late 1970s because up until that time, it was pretty much assumed that life required sunlight. And what they learned when they first observed these deep sea hydrothermal vent communities, was, in fact, life could exist on thermal and chemical energy as opposed to just sunlight. And so what they realized is that photosynthesis was not the only way to support life. We could say that this discovery stretches our concept of the origin of life on our own planet. Because these deep sea hydrothermal vents could be the most ancient sites of life on Earth.”

“Oceans have existed, more or less, since the beginning of Earth's history. Life on the bottom of the oceans is actually well protected from variability on the surface of the Earth. This environment is insulated by the oceans and very, very old. And so for that reason, it's a good candidate for the origin of life."

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.