Did Volcanoes Cause the Creation of Life on Earth?

Introduction

There are a number of theories regarding how life began on our planet. Some of them are fantastic, like the intentional seeding of Earth by aliens. Others are more scientific and carry a theoretical possibility of actually being true. One of such theories, developed fairly recently, is that first organic chemical components that eventually evolved into simple organisms were created due to chemical reactions of gases released by the Earth's volcanic activity.

Background

One point that all scientists agree on is that life on Earth began in the water. However, when the planet initially formed from dust cloud particles left over from the creation of the sun, it contained no water (Comins, 1993). However, rocks that formed when the dust condensed carried in them all chemical elements known to us today. The importance of this is in that when these rocks began to warm up as the Earth grew and pressed them together with their own weight, and some of the lighter components entered their gaseous state, some of these components began reacting chemically with others. The two most important to the creation of water were hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.

By themselves, these two gases are noxious, toxic substances that contribute nothing to the creation of life. In fact, they are actually dangerous to life. Hydrogen sulfide, or sewer gas, is an insidious poison that irritates parts of the body covered with mucous membranes, such as eyes, nose, and throat. Sulfur dioxide, or tear gas, is a biting, choking gas that people smell right after lighting a match. However, when the two of them react, they produce pure solid sulfur, called sulfaterra, or yellow ground, and as a byproduct they form water vapor (Camp, 2001).