Liquid formamide has been irradiated by high-energy proton beams in the presence of powdered meteorites, and the products of the catalyzed resulting syntheses were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Relative to the controls (no radiation, or no formamide, or no catalyst), an extremely rich, variegate, and prebiotically relevant panel of compounds was observed. The meteorites tested were representative of the four major classes: iron, stony iron, chondrites, and achondrites. The products obtained were amino acids, carboxylic acids, nucleobases, sugars, and, most notably, four nucleosides: cytidine, uridine, adenosine, and thymidine. In accordance with theoretical studies, the detection of HCN oligomers suggests the occurrence of mechanisms based on the generation of radical cyanide species (CN·) for the synthesis of nucleobases. Given that many of the compounds obtained are key components of extant organisms, these observations contribute to outline plausible exogenous high-energy-based prebiotic scenarios and their possible boundary conditions, as discussed.origin of life | formamide | prebiotic syntheses | nucleosides | meteorites H ypothesizing formamide (FA) as parent molecule, we explored its potentiality in synthetic processes when exposed to proton irradiation. The purpose of this analysis is to verify a possible prebiotic scenario consisting of FA, considered here as starting one-carbon atom material, of proton beams mimicking solar energetic particles as energy source, and of meteorites as catalysts. The rationale of this approach is that the results could help in outlining exogenous prebiotic models and their boundaries.FA (NH 2 CHO) is becoming one of the most intensively studied precursors for prebiotic syntheses of compounds potentially relevant for the origin of life (1-4). FA is a ubiquitous molecule in the universe. It has been detected in galactic centers (Sgr A and Sgr B), in star-forming regions of dense molecular clouds, in high-mass young stellar objects, in the interstellar medium and in comets and satellites (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14).With the appropriate mineral as catalyst, different ensembles of intermediates of genetic and metabolic apparatuses are simultaneously synthesized from FA under thermal conditions (i.e., by heating liquid FA between 333 and 453 K at room pressure). DNA and RNA components (15-21), amino acids (22, 23), sugars (24), and carboxylic acids (25, 26) have been obtained. Minerals tune the selectivity of these transformations (1, 2), the mechanistic pathways for the synthesis of nucleobases requiring pyrimidine (27-30) or imidazole intermediates (31,32).Within the solar system, ionizing cosmic radiation is generated by the Sun [solar cosmic rays (SCRs), primarily protons accelerated by flares and coronal mass ejections to energies typically of tens to hundreds megaelectronvolts] and is also formed by particles coming from the deep universe [galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)] (33). The SCRs and GCRs differ in their components and energy spectra, but their overwhelming co...

Based on the study of distribution of assemblages of skeletal organic remains we have established the synchronous appearance of a skeleton in certain fossil groups; this enables us to draw the lower boundary of Cambrian according to the first zone with a certain assemblage of skeletal fossils.Wide distribution, in sections of various parts of the world, of deposits having no trilobites but containing similar assemblages of other skeletal fossils, has made it possible to distinguish them as an independent Tommotian stage. In Siberian sections this can be subdivided into three zones based on archaeocyathans.The deposits of the Tommotian stage are underlain by deposits containing no skeletal fossils; in their carbonate composition they are, as a rule, rich in oncolites and catagraphs (algae of uncertain affinities or products of algal activity), and stromatolites of a socalled “Vendian” or “Yudomian” assemblage.A regular distribution of assemblages of organic remains in the Cambrian-Pre-Cambrian boundary layers point to a leading role for a biostratigraphical method in the solution of the problem of the Cambrian lower boundary.

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Four sections from the mid-Atdabanian to lowest Toyonian (middle Cambrian) along the Lena River of Siberia were sampled for carbon isotope stratigraphy. These show a mainly heavy but highly oscillatory δ13C signature for the Atdabanian to mid-Botomian interval, coincident with the major phase of invertebrate innovation. A prolonged interval of negative δ13C followed until late Toyonian times, coincident with Botomian-Toyonian mass extinctions. Eleven carbon isotope cycles are identified through the lower Cambrian, which should now be tested for their utility in global correlation and relationship to bioevents in the Cambrian explosion.

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New high-resolution S 13 C data through the Lower Cambrian of Siberia reveal multiple, positive excursions coincident with phases in the "explosion" of invertebrate phyla (Nemakit-Daldynian to middle Botomian stages). Comparison of the 8 18 0 and trace element (Mg, Fe, Mn, Sr) chemistry indicate that six new 8 I3 C cycles are primary rather than diagenetic features, with potential for global correlation. Positive 8 13 C excursions up to +3%« indicate that fractional organic carbon burial rates were high but variable through the Cambrian explosion. Values for 8 ,3 C dropped sharply from around +2.2%c to-1 Mc in Botomian time, coincident with mass extinction of the archaeocyathan reef biota. The rapid fluctuation of the 8 13 C signal and the temporal coincidence of the pronounced negative shift with the extinction event hint that the 8 I3 C record may record productivity variations during the Early Cambrian radiation.

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The formation of nucleosides in abiotic conditions is a major hurdle in origin-of-life studies. We have determined the pathway of a general reaction leading to the one-pot synthesis of ribo- and 2′-deoxy-ribonucleosides from sugars and purine nucleobases under proton irradiation in the presence of a chondrite meteorite. These conditions simulate the presumptive conditions in space or on an early Earth fluxed by slow protons from the solar wind, potentially mimicking a plausible prebiotic scenario. The reaction (i) requires neither pre-activated precursors nor intermediate purification/concentration steps, (ii) is based on a defined radical mechanism, and (iii) is characterized by stereoselectivity, regioselectivity and (poly)glycosylation. The yield is enhanced by formamide and meteorite relative to the control reaction.