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Science 11 December 1964:
Vol. 146. no. 3650, pp. 1461 - 1464
DOI: 10.1126/science.146.3650.1461
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Articles

Thermodynamic Equilibria in Prebiological Atmospheres

M. O. Dayhoff 1, E. R. Lippincott 1, and R. V. Eck 1

1 National Biomedical Research Foundation, 8600 16th Street, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park

The concentrations of a large number of compounds of biological interest which would be present in the atmosphere at thermodynamic equilibrium were computed under many combinations of temperature, pressure, and elemental composition. These computations revealed a possible mechanism for the abiological formation of asphaltic tar and an oxidative threshold at which all but the simplest compounds disappear.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Organic Compounds in Meteorites: They may have formed in the solar nebula, by catalytic reactions of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and ammonia.
E. Anders, E. Anders, R. Hayatsu, and M. H. Studier (1973)
Science 182, 781-790
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Endogenous Carbon in Carbonaceous Meteorites.
J. W. Smith, J. W. Smith, and I. R. Kaplan (1970)
Science 167, 1367-1370
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Venus: Atmospheric Evolution.
M. O. Dayhoff, M. O. Dayhoff, R. V. Eck, E. R. Lippincott, and C. Sagan (1967)
Science 155, 556-558
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Thermodynamic Equilibrium and the Inorganic Origin of Organic Compounds.
R. V. Eck, E. R. Lippincott, M. O. Dayhoff, and Y. T. Pratt (1966)
Science 153, 628-633
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Evolution of the Structure of Ferredoxin Based on Living Relics of Primitive Amino Acid Sequences.
R. V. Eck and M. O. Dayhoff (1966)
Science 152, 363-366
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Organic Matter in Carbonaceous Chondrites.
H. C. Urey, J. S. Lewis Jr., A. L. Burlingame, H. K. Schnoes, M. H. Studier, R. Hayatsu, and E. Anders (1966)
Science 152, 102-107
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Organic Compounds in Carbonaceous Chondrites.
M. H. Studier, M. H. Studier, R. Hayatsu, and E. Anders (1965)
Science 149, 1455-1459
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Significance of the Gunflint (Precambrian) Microflora: Photosynthetic oxygen may have had important local effects before becoming a major atmospheric gas.
P. E. Cloud and P. E. Cloud Jr. (1965)
Science 148, 27-35
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