The formation of crystalline minerals and their role in the origin of life on Earth

Abstract

As known currently, in the formation of the Earth, minerals have played a pivotal role going from the formation of the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and all Earth components until the origin, evolution, and maintenance of life. The first signs of magnetism are found in komatiites. In the origin of life, minerals were responsible for concentrating, aligning, and acting as templates and catalyzers, allowing for the formation of bonds among the first biomolecules to form polymers, which eventually became assembled to give rise to the pioneer organism in the Precambrian. Besides, minerals allowed the DNA to be the information storing molecule, even though it was not the first biomolecule. Another function of minerals was to protect the organic complexes against ultraviolet radiation and hydrolysis, a fundamental action to preserve life in the Precambrian where high UV radiation prevailed. Minerals not only favored the origin of life but also became part of the organisms that inhabit the Earth, including species of the five kingdoms, comprising from microorganisms to higher organisms. How minerals participated in the origin of life still has unresolved questions, for which to understand the minerals’ participation since the formation of the Earth until becoming part of the structure of organisms from the five kingdoms, we reviewed the following topics, which will contribute to the understanding of the implication of minerals in the origin of our planet and life on it: i) the synthesis of the chemical elements from which the first mineral were obtained in the Earth, ii) the factor that favored the formation of minerals in the Earth, iii) the implication of minerals as the basis for the synthesis of the first biomolecule and, eventually, the pioneer organism, as well as the biomineralization mechanism that has been proposed to account for the mineral part contained in the structure of the organisms from the different kingdoms, and iv) the models that allow emulating the mechanisms by which minerals participated in the synthesis of the first biomolecule; in this way, for example, the Precambrian microfossils are so simple morphologically (spheres, subspheres, and hemispheres) that they can easily be imitated by hollow mineral growths, known as biomorphs. Although these can interfere with the study of actual microfossils, they remain as key points for the study of the origin of life.