122 HISTORY OF THE OCEAN'S 



by rocks. Hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere could not 

 be directly oxidized by gaseous oxygen, but could react with water 

 vapor, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other gases in a reducing 

 atmosphere. Short-wave ultraviolet light in the absence of an 

 ozone screen would penetrate the atmosphere and contribute to 

 this interaction. Another significant energy source for organic 

 syntheses might be static electric charges in the atmosphere. In 

 recent years, conditions which could have taken place in the 

 primeval atmosphere of the earth have been reproduced under 

 laboratory conditions. Even such a relatively inert gas as methane 

 can serve as the basic substance in the synthesis of various organic 

 compounds, as shown by S. Miller's experiments. He obtained 

 amino acids, the important precursors of protein molecules by 

 using charges of static electricity in the presence of methane, 

 hydrogen, ammonia, and water vapors. Similar syntheses of amino 

 acids were carried out by T. Pavlovskaya and A. Passynski using 

 ultraviolet light. Many others have suggested the possibility that 

 amino acids, precursors of the porphyrins, etc., could be formed 

 under such conditions. 



As they gradually became more complicated, organic substances 

 were no longer gaseous. Hence, they became increasingly con- 

 centrated in the primary hydrosphere of the earth rather than in 

 the atmosphere. Thus, most organic compounds must have 

 accumulated there. Here, then, large molecular substances were 

 principally formed and changed into multimolecular systems, from 

 which life emerged. 



Unfortunately, the waters of modern seas and oceans do not 

 provide an environment favorable for reproducing these processes 

 under natural conditions. First, these waters as well as the atmos- 

 phere are very rich in free oxygen. From investigations aboard the 

 Soviet research ship Vitiaz, it appears that even the waters of the 

 greatest ocean deeps are saturated with oxygen for the most part. 

 Only in some unusual cases, such as in certain Norwegian fjords, 

 are reducing conditions found. Even here, as everywhere else, the 

 waters are well populated, particularly with microbial organisms. 

 In the presence of these, however, it is very difficult to distinguish 

 abiogenetic processes which could have developed in the primary 

 hydrosphere from biogenetic ones which only occur today. 



