Submarine Hydrothermal Environments as Sites for the Origin and Evolution of Life

That life formed and evolved in hydrothermal environments is proposed. This hypothesis is plausible in terms of the tectonic, paleontological, and degassing history of the Earth. Submarine hydrothermal vents are the only contemporary geological environment which may truly be called primeval and which today continue to be a major source of gases and dissolved elements to the ocean. The microbial assemblages in present day hydrothermal systems therefore could be living analogues of the earliest microbial communities to develop on Earth. The evidence for the hypothesis is reviewed.