Submarine hydrothermal vent systems: the relevance of dynamic systems in chemical evolution and prebiotic chemistry experiments

Abstract

Since their discovery, submarine hydrothermal vent systems have been pointed out as important places where chemical evolution on Earth could have occurred; and their role in the process has been highlighted. Similarly, some hypotheses have considered these systems in origin of life scenarios. In this way, many experiments have been developed, and the knowledge about these systems has increased. Due to their complexity, many experimental simulations have only included a few of the geochemical variables present in these environments, pressure and temperature. Other main variables have hardly been included, such as mineralogy, thermal and pH gradients, dissolved ions and/or redox reactions. As it has been understood, the dynamism and heterogeneity of these environments are huge, and it comprises different scales, from single vents to full hydrothermal fields. However, the vast majority of experiments focus on a specific part of these systems and do not include salinity, mineralogy and pH gradients. For this reason, in this paper, we pointed out some considerations about how this dynamism can be interpreted, and included in some models, as well their importance in prebiotic chemistry experiments and their extrapolations regarding the hypothesis about the origins of life.