Comets and prebiotic organic molecules on early earth

Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics

Volumn , Issue , 2006, Pages 169-206

  Chyba, C F ^a,b,c   Hand, K P ^b  

^a SETI INSTITUTE   (United States)

^b STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c PRINCETON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33748904628     PISSN: 16108957     EISSN: 16131851     Source Type: Book Series    
DOI: 10.1007/3-540-33088-7_6     Document Type: Article

References (164)

1. Abelson, P.H. (1966), Chemical events on the primitive Earth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 55, 1365-1372.
2. Anders, E. (1989), Pre-biotic organic matter from comets and asteroids. Nature, 342, 255-57.
3. Armstrong, J.C., Wells, L.E., Gonzalez, G.J. (2002), Rummaging through Earth's Attic for Remains of Ancient Life. Icarus, 160, 183-96.
4. Bailey, J., Chrysostomou, A., Hough, J.H., Gledhill, T.M., McCall, A., Clark, S., Meńard, F. and Tamura, M. (1998), Circular polarization in star-formation regions: Implications for biomolecular homochirality. Science, 281, 672-74.
5. Balsiger, H., Altwegg, K., and Geiss, J. (1995), D/H and 18O/16O ratio in hydronium ion and in neutral water from in situ ion measurements in Comet P/Halley. J. Geophys. Res., 100, 5834-40.
6. Bar-Nun, A., Bar-Nun, N., Bauer, S.H., Sagan, C. (1970), Shock synthesis of amino acids in simulated primitive environments. Science, 168, 470-3.
7. Bar-Nun, A., Shaviv, A. (1975), Dynamics of the chemical evolution of Earth's primitive atmosphere. Icarus, 24, 197-210.
8. Barak, I., Bar-Nun, A. (1975), The mechanisms of amino acids synthesis by high temperature shock-waves. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 6, 483-506.
9. Beukes, N.J., Lowe, D.R. (1989), Environmental control on diverse stromatolite morphologies in the 3000 Myr Pongola Supergroup, South Africa. Sedimentology, 36, 383-97.
10. Bockeleé-Morvan, D.,Gautier, D., Lis, D.C., Young, K., Keene, J., Phillips, T., Owen, T., Crovisier, J., Goldsmith, P.F., Berginet, E.A., et al. (1998), Deuterated water in comter C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) and its implications for the origin of comets. Icarus, 133, 147-62.
11. Brasier, M.D., Green, O.R., Jephcoat, A.P., Kleppe, A.K., Van Kranendonk, M.J., et al. (2002), Questioning the evidence for Earth's oldest fossils. Nature, 416, 76-81.
12. Brocks, J.J., Logan, G.A., Buick, R., Summons, R.E. (1999), Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes. Science, 285, 1033-6.
13. Cameron, A.G.W. (1983), Origin of the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets. Icarus, 56, 195-201.
14. Cameron, A.G.W. (1986), The impact theory for the origin of the Moon. In Origin of the Moon (W.K. Hartmann, R.J. Phillips, G.J. Taylor, eds.), Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, p. 609.
15. Campins, H., Swindle, T.D., Kring, D.A. (2004), Evaluating comets as a source of Earth's water. In Genesis, Evolution and Diversity of Life (J. Seckbach, ed.), Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 569-91.
16. Catling, D.C. (2006), Comment on "A hydrogen-rich early Earth atmosphere". Science, 311, 38a.
17. Chyba, C.F. (1987), The cometary contribution to the oceans of primitive Earth. Nature, 330, 632-5.
18. Chyba, C.F. (1990), Impact delivery and erosion of planetary oceans in the early inner solar system. Nature, 343, 129-33.
19. Chyba, C.F. (1991), Terrestrial Mantle Siderophiles and the Lunar Impact record. Icarus, 92, 217-33.
20. Chyba, C.F. (1993a), Explosions of small Spacewatch objects in the Earth's atmosphere. Nature, 363, 701-3.
21. Chyba, C.F. (1993b), The violent environment of the origins of life: Progress and uncertainties. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, 57, 3351-8.
22. Chyba, C.F. (1997), A left-handed Solar System? Nature, 389, 234-35.
23. Chyba, C.F. (2005), Rethinking Earth's early atmosphere. Science, 308, 962-3
24. Chyba, C.F. and Hand, K.P. (2005), Astrobiology: The study of the living universe. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophysics., 43, 31-74, doi: 10.1146/ annurev. astro.43.051804.102202.
25. Chyba, C.F. and McDonald, G.D. (1995), The origin of life in the Solar System: Current issues. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 24, 215-49.
26. Chyba, C.F., Phillips, C.B. (2002), Europa as an abode for life. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 32, 47-68.
27. Chyba, C.F., Sagan, C. (1991), Electrical energy sources for organnic synthesis on the early Earth. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 21, 3-17.
28. Chyba, C.F., Sagan, C. (1992), Endogenous production, exogenous delivery and impact-shock synthesis: An inventory for the origins of life. Nature, 355, 125-132.
29. Chyba, C.F., Sagan, C. (1997), Comets as a source of Prebiotic Organic Molecules for the Early Earth. In Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life (P.J. Thomas, C.F. Chyba, C.P. McKay, eds.), Springer, New York, pp. 147-73.
30. Chyba, C.F., Thomas, P.J., Zahnle, K. (1993), The 1908 Tunguska explosion: Atmospheric disruption of a stony asteroid. Nature, 361, 40-4.
31. Chyba, C.F., Owen, T.C., Ip, W-H. (1994), Impact delivery of volatiles and organic molecules to Earth. In Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids (T. Gehrels, ed.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 9-58.
32. Chyba, C.F., Whitmire, D.P., Reynolds, R. (2000), Planetary habitability and the origins of life. In Protostars and Planets IV (A.P.B.V. Mannings, S.S. Russell, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 1365-1393.
33. Clark, B.C. (1988), Primeval procreative comet pond. Origins of Life, 18, 209-38.
34. Cohen, B.A., Swindle, T.D., Kring, D.A. (2000), Support for the Lunar Cataclysm Hypothesis from Lunar Meteorite Impact Melt Ages. Science, 290, 1754-6.
35. Cronin, J. and Pizzarello, S. (1997), Enantiometric excesses in meteroritic amino acids. Science, 275, 951-955.
36. Delsemme, A. (1992), Cometary origin of carbon, nitrogen and water on the Earth. Origins of Life, 21, 279-98.
37. Delsemme, A.H. (1997), The Origin of the Atmosphere and of the Oceans. In Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life (P.J. Thomas, C.F. Chyba, C.P. McKay, eds.), Springer, New York, pp. 29-67.
38. Delsemme, A.H. (1999), The deuterium enrichment observed in recent comets is consistent with the cometary origin of seawater. Planet. Space Sci., 47, 125-31.
39. Dreibus, G., Wanke, H. (1987), Volatiles on Earth and Mars: A comparison. Icarus, 71, 225-40.
40. Dreibus, G., Wanke, H. (1989), Supply and loss of volatile constituents during the accretion of terrestrial planets. In Origin and Evolution of Planetary annd Satellite Atmospheres (S.K. Atreya, J.B. Pollack, M.S. Matthews, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 268-88.
41. Drouart, A., Dubrulle, B., Gautier, D. and Robert, F. (1999), Structure and transport in the solar nebula from constraints on deuterium enrichment and giant planets formation. Icarus, 14, 129-55.
42. Duncan, M.J., Quinn, T.R. and Tremaine, S. (1987), The formation and extent of the solar system comet cloud. Astron. J., 94, 1330-38.
43. 16O ratios in water from Comet P/Halley. Astron. Astrophys., 302, 301-16.
44. Elderfield, H., Schultz, A. (1996), Mid-Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Fluxes and the Chemical Composition of the Ocean. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet Sci., 24, 191-224.
45. Ehrenfreund, P., Irvine, W., Becker, L., Blank, J., Brucato, J.R., Colangeli, L., Derenne, S., Despois, D., Dutrey, A., Fraaije, H., Lazcano, A., Owen, T., Robert, F. (2002), Astrophysical and astrochemical insights into the origin of life. Rep. Prog. Phys., 65, 1427-1487.
46. Engel, M.H. and Macko, S.A. (1997), Isotopic evidence for extraterrestrial nonreacemic amino acids in the Murchison meterorite. Nature, 389, 265-268.
47. Engrand, C. and Maurette, M. (1998), Carbonaceous micrometeorites from Antarctica. Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 33, 565-580.
48. Fedo, C.M., Whitehouse, M.J. (2002), Metasomatic origin of quartz-pyroxene rock, Akilia, Greenland, and implications for Earth's earliest life. Science, 296, 1448-52.
49. Fernandez, J.A. (1985), The formation and dynamical survival of the comet cloud. In Dynamics of Comets: Their Origin and Evolutionn (A. Carusi, G.B. Valsecchi, eds.), Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 45-70.
50. Fernandez, J.A., Ip, W-H. (1983), On the time evolution of the cometary influx in the region of the terrestrial planets. Icarus, 54, 377-387.
51. Folinsbee, R.E., Douglas, J.A.V., Maxwell, J.A. (1967), Revelstoke, a new Type I carbonaceous chondrite. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, 31, 1625-35.
52. Garcia-Ruiz, J.M., Hyde, S.T., Carnerup, A.M., Christy, A.G., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Welham, N.J. (2003), Self-Assembled Silica-Carbonate Structures and Detection of Ancient Microfossils. Science, 302, 1194-1197.
53. Gilvarry, J.J., Hochstim, A.R. (1963), Possible role of meteorites in the origin of life. Nature, 197, 624-626.
54. Gomes, R., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., and Morbidelli, A. (2005), Origin of the cataclysmic Late Heavy Bombardment period of the terrestrial planets. Nature, 435, 466-469.
55. Greenberg, M.J. (1981), Chemical evolution of interstellar dust - a source of prebiotic material? In Comets and the Origin of Life (C. Ponnamperuma, ed.), Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 111-27.
56. Grinspoon, D.H. (1989), Large impact events and atmospheric evolution on the terrestrial planets. Ph.D. thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson. 209pp.
57. Grotzinger, J., Rothman, D.H. (1996), An abiotic model for stromatolite morphogenesis. Nature, 383, 423-425.
58. Grün, E., Zook, H.A., Fechtig, H. and Giese, R.H. (1985), Collisional balance of the meteoritic complex. Icarus, 62, 244-272.
59. Hartmann, W.K. (1975), Lunar "Cataclysm": A Misconception? Icarus, 24, 181-187.
60. Hartmann, W.K. (1987), A satellite-asteroid mystery and a possible early flux of scattered C-class asteroids. Icarus, 71, 57-68.
61. Hartmann, W.K. (1990), Additional evidence about an early intense flux of C asteroids and the origin of Phobos. Icarus, 87, 236-240.
62. Hartmann, W.K., Ryder, G., Dones, L., Grinspoon, D. (2000), The time-dependent intense bombardment of the primordial Earth/Moon system. In Origin of the Earth and Moon (R.M. Canup, K. Righter, eds.), University Arizona Press. Tucson, pp. 493-512.
63. Hochstim, A.R. (1963), Hypersonic chemosynthesis and possible formation of organic compounds from impact of meteorites on water. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 50, 200-208.
64. Holland, H.D. (1962), Models for the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere. In Petrologic Studies: A Volume to Honor A.F. Buddington (A.E.J. Engel, H.L. James, B.F. Leonard, eds.), Geological Society of America, Washington, D.C., pp. 447-477.
65. Horowitz, N.H. (1986), To Utopia and Back: The Search for Life in the Solar System. W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.
66. Ip, W-H. (1977), On the early scattering processes of the outer planets. In Comets-Asteroids-Meteorites: Interrelations, Evolution and Origin (A.H. Delsemme, ed.), University of Toledo Press, Toledo, pp. 485-490.
67. Kasting, J.F. (1982), Stability of ammonia in the primitive terrestrial atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res., 87, 3091-3098.
68. Kasting, J.F. (1990), Bolide impacts and the oxidation state of carbon in the Earth's early atmosphere. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 20, 199-231.
69. Kasting, J.F. (2000), Environmental constraints on the origin of life. In The Origins of Life (D. Baltimore, R. Dulbecco, F. Jacob, R. Levi-Montalcini, eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 193-200.
70. Kasting, J.F., Catling, D. (2003), Evolution of a Habitable Planet. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 41, 429-463.
71. Kasting, J.F., Whtimire, D.P., and Reynolds, R.T. (1993), Habitable zones around main sequence stars. Icarus, 101, 108-128.
72. Knoll, A. (2003), Life on a Young Planet. Princeton University Press, Princeton, p. 277.
73. Kring, D.A., Cohen, B.A. (2002), Cataclysmic bombardment throughout the inner solar system 3.9-4.0 Ga. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, No. E2, 10.1029/2001JE001529.
74. Kuhn, W.R., Atreya, S.K. (1979), Ammonia photolysis and the greehouse effect in the primordial atmosphere of the Earth. Icarus, 37, 207-213.
75. Lepland, A., van Zuilen, M.A., Arrhenius, G., Whitehouse, M.J., Fredo, C.M. (2005), Questioning the evidence for Earth's earliest life - Akilia revisited. Geology, 33, 77-79.
76. Levine, J.S., Augustsson, T.R. (1985), The photochemistry of biogenic gases in the early and present atmosphere. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 15, 299-318.
77. Lewis, J. (1974), The temperature gradient in the solar nebula. Science, 186, 440-443.
78. Lewis, J., Barshay, S.S., Noyes, B. (1979), Primordial retention of carbon by the terrestrial planets. Icarus, 37, 190-206.
79. Love, S.G., Brownlee, D.E. (1993), A direct measurement of the terrestrial mass accretion rate of cosmic dust. Science, 262, 550-553.
80. Maher, K.A., Stevenson, D.J. (1988), Impact frustration and the origin of life. Nature, 331, 612-614.
81. Maurette, M. (1998), Carbonaceous micrometeorites and the origin of life, Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 28, 385-412.
82. 2, nitrogen and water from large interplanetary dust particles on early Earth. Planetary and Space Science, 48, 1117-1137.
83. Matrajt, G., Pizzarello, S., Taylor, S. and Brownlee, D. (2004), Concentration and variability of the AIB amino acid in polar micrometeorites: Implications for the exogenous delivery of amino acids to the primitive Earth. Meteoritics and Planet. Sci., 39, 1849-1858.
84. Mazur, P. (1980), Limits to life at low temperatures and at reduced water contents and water activities. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 10, 137-159.
85. McKay, C.P. (1991), Urey Prize lecture: Planetary evolution and the origin of life. Icarus, 91, 93-100.
86. McKay, C.P., Borucki, W.J., Kojiro, K.R., Church, F. (1989), Shock production of organics during cometary impact. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf., 20, 671-672.
87. 2 and organics on primordial Titan. Nature, 332, 520-522.
88. 2O ratio in Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). Science, 279, 842-844.
89. Melosh, H.J. (1989), Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process. Oxford University Press, New York.
90. Miller, S.L. (1953), A production of amino acids under possible primitive Earth conditions. Science, 117, 528-529.
91. Miller, S.L. (1957), The formation of organic compounds on the primitive Earth. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 69, 123-135.
92. Miller, S.L., Urey, H.C. (1959), Organic compound synthesis on the primitive Earth. Science, 130, 245-251.
93. Miller, S.L. (1974), The first laboratory synthesis of organic compounds under primitive Earth conditions. In The Heritage of Copernicus: Theories "Pleasing to the Mind" (J. Neyman, ed.), MIT Press, Cambridge, pp. 228-242.
94. Miller, S.L., Lyons, J.R., Chyba, C.F. (1998), Organic shielding of greenhouse gases on early Earth. Science, 279, 779a.
95. Mojzsis, S.J., Arrhenius, G., McKeegan, K.D., Harrison, T.M., Nutman, A.P., Friend. C.R.L. (1996), Evidence for Life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago. Nature, 384, 55-59.
96. Mojzsis, S.J., Harrison, T.M., Pidgeon, R.T. (2001), Oxygen-isotope evidence from ancient zircons for liquid water at the Earth's surface 4,300 Myr ago. Nature, 409, 178-181.
97. Moorbath, S. (2005), Dating earliest life. Nature, 434, 154-155.
98. Morbidelli, A., Chambers, J., Lunine, J.I., Petit, J.M., Robert, F., Valsecchi, G.B., and Cyr, K.E. (2000), Source regions and timescales for the delivery of water to the Earth. Meteorites and Planetary Science, 35, 1309-1320.
99. Mukhin, L.M., Gerasimov, M.V., Safonova, E.N. (1989), Origin of precursors of organic molecules during evaporation of meteorites and mafic terrestrial rocks. Nature, 340, 46-48.
100. National Research Council (2006), Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars. National Academy of Sciences Press, Washington, DC.
101. Oberbeck, V.R., Aggarwal, H. (1992), Comet impacts and chemical evolution on the bombarded Earth. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 21, 317-338.
102. Oberbeck, V.R., McKay, C.P., Scattergood, T.W., Carle, G.C., Valentin, J.R. (1989), The role of cometary particle coalescence in chemical evolution. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 19, 39-55.
103. Oró, J. (1961), Comets and the formation of biochemical compounds on the primitive Earth. Nature, 190, 389-390.
104. Owen, T.C., Bar-Nun, A., Kleinfeld, I. (1992), The photochemistry of biogenic gases in the early and present atmosphere. Nature, 358, 43-46.
105. Owen, T.C., Cess, R.D., Ramanathan, V. (1979), Enhanced C02 greehouse to compensate for reduced solar luminosity on early Earth. Nature, 277, 640-642.
106. 2 by organic hazes in the Archean atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res., 106, 23,267-23,288.
107. Pierazzo, E. and Chyba, C.F. (2002), Cometary delivery of biogenic elements to Europa. Icarus, 157, 120-127.
108. Pierazzo, E., Chyba, C.F. (2002), Cometary delivery of biogenic elements to Europa. Icarus, 157, 120-127.
109. Pollack, J.B., Podolak, M., Bodenheimer, P., Christofferson, B. (1986), Planetesimal dissolution in the envelopes of the forming, giant planets. Icarus, 67, 409-443.
110. Prinn, R.G., Fegley, B. (1989), Solar nebula chemistry: Origin of planetary, satellite and cometary volatiles. In Origin and Evolution of Planetary and Satellite Atmospheres (S.K. Atreya, J.B. Pollack, M.S. Matthews, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 78-136.
111. Rabinowitz, D.L. (1993), The size distribution of the Earth-approaching asteroids. Astrophys. J., 407, 412-427.
112. Robert, F. (2001), Isotope geochemistry: The origin of water on Earth. Science, 293, 1056-1058.
113. Rodante, F. (1992), Thermodynamics and kinetics of decomposition processes for standard α-amino acids and some of their defeptides in the solid state. Thermochim. Acta, 200, 47-61.
114. 13C-Depleted Carbon microparticles in >3700-Ma sea-floor sedimentary rocks from West Greenland. Science, 28, 674-676.
115. Rosing, M.T., Frei, R. (2004), U-rich Archaean sea-floor sediments from Greenland - indications of >3700 Ma oxygenic photosynthesis. Earth Planet Sci. Lett., 217, 237-244.
116. Ross, D. (2006), Cometary impact and amino acid survival - chemical kinetics and thermochemistry. J. Phys. Chem., 110, No. 21, 6633-37.
117. Rushmer, T., Minarik, W.G., Taylor, G.J. (2000), Physical processes of core formation. In Origin of the Earth and Moon (R.M. Canup, K. Righter, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 227-243.
118. Ryder, G. (2002), Mass flux in the ancient Earth-Moon system and benign implications for the origin of life on Earth. J. Geophys. Res., 107, 10.1029/2001JE001583.
119. Sagan, C. (1974), The origin of life in a cosmic context. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere, 5, 497-505.
120. Sagan, C., Chyba, C.F. (1997), The Early Faint Sun Paradox: Organic Shielding of Ultraviolet-Labile Greenhouse Gases. Science, 276, 1217-1221.
121. Schidlowski, M. (1988), A 3,800 million-year isotopic record of life from carbon in sedimentary rocks. Nature, 333, 313-318.
122. 2. Hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, and ammonia. J. Molec. Evol., 19, 383-390.
123. 2. I. Amino Acids. J. Molec. Evol., 19, 376-382.
124. Schonland, B.F.J. (1928), The interchange of electricity between thunderclouds and the Earth. Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 118, 252-262.
125. Schonland, B.F.J. (1953), Atmospheric Electricity. Methuen, London.
126. Schopf, J.W. (1993), Microfossils of the Early Archean Apex Chert: New evidence of the antiquity of life. Science, 260, 640-646.
127. Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Agresti, D.G., Wdowiak, T.J., Czaja, A.D. (2002), Laser-Raman imagery of Earth's earliest fossils. Nature, 416, 73-76.
128. Schopf, J.W., Packer, B.M. (1987), Early Archean (3.3 to 3.5 billion-year-old) microfossils from Warrawoona Group, Australia. Science, 237, 70-3.
129. Shock, E.L., and Schulte, M.D. (1998), Organic sysnthesis during fluid mixing in hydrothermal systems. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, E12, 28513-28528.
130. Shoemaker, E.M.,Wolfe, R.F. (1984), Evolution of the Uranus-Neptune planetesimal swarm. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf., 15, 780-781.
131. Sleep, N.H., Zahnle, K.J., Kasting, J.F., Morowitz, H.J. (1989), Annihilation of ecosystems by large asteroid impacts on the early Earth. Nature, 342, 139-142.
132. Solomatov, V.S. (2000), Fluid dynamics of a terrestrial magma ocean. In Origin of the Earth and Moon (R.M. Canup, K. Righter, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 323-338.
133. Stevenson, D.J. (1983), The nature of the Earth prior to the oldest known rock record: The Hadean Earth. In Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (J.W. Schopf, ed.), Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp. 32-40.
134. Stevenson, D.J. (1990), Fluid dynamics of core formation. In Origin of the Earth (H.E. Newsom, J.H. Jones, eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 231-249.
135. Stribling, R., Miller, S.L. (1987), Electric discharge synthesis of HCN in simulated Jovian atmospheres. Icarus, 72, 48-52.
136. Summons, R.E., Jahnke, L.L., Hope, J.M., Logan, G.A. (1999), 2-Methylhopanoids as biomarkers for cyanobacterial oxygenic photosythesis. Nature, 400, 554-557.
137. Swindle, T.D., Caffee, M.W., Hohenberg, C.M., Taylor, S. R. (1986), I-Pu-Xe dating and the relative ages of the Earth and Moon. In Origin of the Moon (W.K. Hartmann, R.J. Phillips, G.J. Taylor, eds.), Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, pp. 331-357.
138. Taylor, S., Lever, J.H. and Harvey, R.P. (1997), Terrestrial flux rates of micrometeorites determined from the south pole water well (abstract). Meteoritics and Space Science, 31, A140.
139. Tera, F., Papanastassiou, D., Wasserburg, G.J. (1974), Isotopic evidence for a terminal lunar cataclysm. Earth Planet Sci. Lett., 22, 1-21.
140. Tian, F., Toon, O.B., Pavlov, A.A., De Sterck, H. (2005), A Hydrogen-Rich Early Earth Atmosphere. Science, 308, 1014-1018.
141. Tian, F., Toon, O.B., Pavlov, A.A. (2006), Response to Comment on "A hydrogenrich early Earth atmosphere". Science, 311, 38b.
142. Thomas, P.J. and Brookshaw, L. (1997), Numerical models of comet and asteroid impacts. In Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life (P.J. Thomas, C.F. Chyba, and C.P. McKay, eds.), Springer, New York, pp. 131-45.
143. Tilton, G.R. (1988), Age of the Solar System. In Meteoritics and the Early Solar System (J.F. Kerridge, M.S. Matthews, eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 259-275.
144. Turner, G., Cadogan, P.H., Yonge, C.J. (1973), Argon selenochronology. Proceedings of the Fourth Lunar Planetary Science conference (Supplement 4, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta), 2, 1889-1914.
145. Ueno, Y., Yurimoto, H., Yoshioka, H., Komiya, T., Maruyama, S. (2002), Ion microprobe analysis of graphite from ca. 3.8 Ga metasediments, Isua supracrustal belt, West Greenland: Relationship between metamorphism and carbon isotopic composition. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 1257-1268.
146. Urey, H.C. (1952a), On the Early Chemical History of the Earth and the Origin of Life. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 38, 351-363.
147. Urey, H.C. (1952b), The Planets: Their Origin and Development. Yale University Press, New Haven.
148. Yada, T., Nakamura, T., Takaoka, N., Terada, K., Yano, H., Nakazawa, T. and Kojima, H. (2004), The global accretion rate of extraterrestrial materials in the last glacial period estimated from the abundance of micrometeorites in antarctic glacier ice. Earth Planets Space, 56, 67-79.
149. van Zuilen, M.A., Lepland, A., Arrhenius, G. (2002), Reassessing the evidence for the earliest traces of life. Nature, 418, 627-630.
150. Wächtershäuser, G. (1988), Before Enzymes and Templates: Theory of Surface Metabolism. Microbiol. Rev., 52, 452-484.
151. Walker, J.C.G. (1977), Evolution of the Atmosphere. Macmillan, New York. p. 318.
152. Walsh, M.M., Lowe, D.R. (1985). Filamentous microfossils from the 3,500-Myr-old Onverwacht Group, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. Nature, 314, 530-532.
153. Weaver, H.A., Feldman, P.D., Combi, M.R., Krasnopolsky, V.A., Lisse, C.M., Shemansky, D.E. (2002), A search for Argon and O VI in the comets using the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. Astrophys. J., 576, L95-L8.
154. Westall, F. (2005), Life on the early Earth: A sedimentary view. Science, 308, 366-367.
155. Wetherill, G.W. (1990), Formation of the Earth. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet Sci., 18, 205-256.
156. Wetherill, G.W. (1994), Possible consequences of absence of "Jupiters" in planetary systems. Astrophys. Space Sci., 212, 23-32.
157. Whipple, F.L. (1976), A speculation about comets and the Earth. Mém. Soc. R. Liège 6eme Série, 9, 101-111.
158. Whitman, W.B., Coleman, D.C., and Wiebe, W.J. (1998), Prokaryotes: The unseen majority. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 6578-6583.
159. Wilde, S.A., Valley, J.W., Peck, W.H. and Graham, C.M. (2001), Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature, 409, 175-178.
160. Wilks, M.E., Nisbet, E.G. (1985), Archean stromatolites from the Steep Rock Group, N.W. Ontario, Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci., 22, 792-799.
161. Yung, Y.L., Pinto, J.P. (1978), Primitive atmosphere and implications for the formation of channels on Mars. Nature, 273, 730-732.
162. Zahnle, K.J. (1990), Atmospheric chemistry by large impacts. In Global Catastrophes in Earth History (V.I. Sharpton, P.D. Ward, eds.) Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 271-288.
163. Zahnle, K.J. Walker J.C.G. (1982), The evolution of solar ultraviolet luminosity. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 20, 280-292.
164. Zhao, M., Bada, J.L. (1989), Extraterrestrial amino acids in Cretaceous/ Tertiary boundary sediments at Stevns Klint, Denmark. Nature, 339, 463-465.