A lake in Canada may hold clues to the true origins of life

A recent study focuses on Lake of Last ChanceA shallow body of water located in volcanic rock in the province British Columbia, CanadaReveal the mysteries of Origin of life on earth. spread as cnnThe discovery provides new data that improves scientific understanding of how life began.

Published in the magazine Nature On January 9, the study presents evidence such as carbonate-rich lakes Last chanceThey might have been”Cradles of life” in Dawn of the Planet as suggested David GatlingCo-author of the study and professor of geosciences University of Washington.

Last Chance Lake was chosen as the research center after a literature review revealed an unpublished master's thesis from the 1990s that recorded unusual levels of phosphate in the lake. “We think we have a very promising place for the origin of life,” Gatling said.

This paradigm postulates shallower, saltier lakes than oceanic environments for the emergence of life 4 billion yearsOpposes traditional doctrines and privileges A new approach to the search for the origin of human existence.

He Lake of Last Chance It is situated on a volcanic plateau British Columbia It is over 1,000 meters above sea level and has the highest concentration of phosphate ever recorded in natural water. land. The lake, which is no more than 30 centimeters deep, now provides an important window into understanding the conditions that might have favored the origin of life on the planet. land.

Phosphate, an essential component of vital biological molecules such as DNA, RNA and ATP, is found in these waters at levels 1,000 times higher than normal in oceans and lakes. Sebastian Haas, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington who led the study of this chemical and microbiological peculiarity, highlighted the importance of the findings to better understanding the environments conducive to the emergence of life on Earth.

Between 2021 and 2022, Haas And his team took water and sediment samples from the lake, which revealed not only the richness of phosphates, but also the abundant presence of the mineral dolomite. The latter, formed from a reaction in the lake involving calcium, magnesium and carbonate, contributes to the accumulation of phosphorus in the environment. “We face additional credence to the idea that this type of environment could have been favorable for the origin of life, which is plausible.”He said Haas.

A combination of chemical processes in which the minerals from the volcanic rock that Last Chance Lake sits on, the arid climate, have created unique concentrations of phosphate. The findings are believed to provide fundamental clues to what conditions were like on Earth 4 billion years ago, when life began to appear. Less than 10,000 years old, Lost Chance Lake provides a practical model, or natural snapshot, of Earth's distant past.

“There is every reason to believe that similar lakes formed on the earliest lands about 4 billion years ago,” Haas said, explaining that the volcanic rocks below Lost Chance Lake were necessary for the formation of the soda lakes. And these, according to the study, are important for high phosphate concentrations.

Life on the planet land It probably arose in terrestrial soda lakes, rather than in deep, dark ocean trenches. This hypothesis opens up new avenues of exploration and search for life alien In celestial bodies with similar characteristics tuesday.

That is, if life arose in environments like soda lakes, such as planets with rocky surfaces tuesday They have a high probability of attaining life, or at least, evidence of their past existence. “If you think life originated at the bottom of the ocean, take a closer look at the sub-glacial oceans of moons. Sat And Thursday ” Haas clarified: “But if you believe that life appeared on the surface of the Earth, landPlanets etc tuesday “They can be very important.”

The rock formations that give rise to soda lakes, characterized by their high pH and carbonate concentrations, are common on Mars. This coincidence suggests that the chemical processes and environmental conditions necessary for the emergence of life may have been replicated under similar conditions on the Red Planet or elsewhere in the universe. “Understanding how life evolved on Earth has this significance for our search for extraterrestrial life,” Haas said, emphasizing how these findings could guide future space exploration missions.