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Science 10 October 1980:
Vol. 210. no. 4466, pp. 183 - 185
DOI: 10.1126/science.210.4466.183
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Articles

Photochemical Production of Formaldehyde in Earth's Primitive Atmosphere

JOSEPH P. PINTO 1, G. RANDALL GLADSTONE 2, and YUK LING YUNG 2

1 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York 10025
2 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125

Formaldehyde could have been produced by photochemical reactions in Earth's primitive atmosphere, at a time when it consisted mainly of molecular nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Removal of formaldehyde from the atmosphere by precipitation can provide a source of organic carbon to the oceans at the rate of 1011 moles per year. Subsequent reactions of formaldehyde in primeval aquatic environments would have implications for the abiotic synthesis of complex organic molecules and the origin of life.

Submitted on February 7, 1980
Revised on June 17, 1980


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