Olivine: Its Role in Chemical Evolution and in the Origin of Life

Abstract

According to the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis, living organisms arose naturally on the primitive Earth through a process of chemical evolution of organic matter. In this process the flux of energy through the prebiotic environment transformed simple molecules into complex bio-organic compounds. Between different environments that have been proposed as possible sites for the formation of organic molecules in the primitive Earth, the mineral surfaces have been strongly involved throughout these process. Importantly, olivine, one of the most abundant silicate minerals on Earth, could have contributed promoting prebiotic reactions. This chapter assesses and analyses the latest and hopefully most relevant information about the possible role that this mineral could have played in the processes for the origin of life.