Geothermal energy as an initial factor in the process of life origin

Vladimir N. Kompanichenko; Vladimir N. Kompanichenko

doi:10.3934/geosci.2025022

AIMS Geosciences

2025, Volume 11, Issue 2: 528-539. doi: 10.3934/geosci.2025022

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Research article

Geothermal energy as an initial factor in the process of life origin

Vladimir N. Kompanichenko ^,

Institute for Complex Analysis of Regional Problems RAS, Birobidzhan, Russia

Received: 08 December 2024 Revised: 29 March 2025 Accepted: 16 May 2025 Published: 23 June 2025

Based on the concept of thermodynamic inversion (TI), the role and place of geothermal energy (including thermal and high-frequency fluctuation energy) in the process of the emergence of the biosphere is considered, and a comparison is made with an alternative solar power source. From the standpoint of the general thermodynamics of systems, the appearance of signs of a living state in nonliving organic systems means a transition from the prevalence of the entropy contribution in the system (S_c > F_c) to the relative prevalence of the free energy contribution (S_c < F_c). Such a transition can only occur in conditions far from equilibrium in the presence of different-rank oscillations of physical and chemical parameters in the environment (temperature, pressure, chemical, and electrical potentials, etc.). Their range must include high-frequency (short-period) oscillations that bring maximum energy to the prebiotic system. Such conditions exist in hydrothermal systems during the fluid migration to the surface. Five stages of the origin of primary living cells have been identified. In the initial stages (1–3), which occurred in the subsurface areas of hydrothermal systems, self-assembly of organic microsystems and their primary evolution to the level of protolife (subcells with a primary protein-synthesizing apparatus without DNA) occurred due to geothermal energy. With the exit of subcells on the surface in geothermal regions, life (as we know it) emerged due to the involvement of solar energy into the process: a cell growth cycle appeared and formed a genetic apparatus (4–5).
- origin of life,
- hydrothermal system,
- thermal energy,
- thermodynamics of systems,
- oscillations of parameters,
- first cells,
- sunlight
Citation: Vladimir N. Kompanichenko. Geothermal energy as an initial factor in the process of life origin[J]. AIMS Geosciences, 2025, 11(2): 528-539. doi: 10.3934/geosci.2025022

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Abstract

Based on the concept of thermodynamic inversion (TI), the role and place of geothermal energy (including thermal and high-frequency fluctuation energy) in the process of the emergence of the biosphere is considered, and a comparison is made with an alternative solar power source. From the standpoint of the general thermodynamics of systems, the appearance of signs of a living state in nonliving organic systems means a transition from the prevalence of the entropy contribution in the system (S_c > F_c) to the relative prevalence of the free energy contribution (S_c < F_c). Such a transition can only occur in conditions far from equilibrium in the presence of different-rank oscillations of physical and chemical parameters in the environment (temperature, pressure, chemical, and electrical potentials, etc.). Their range must include high-frequency (short-period) oscillations that bring maximum energy to the prebiotic system. Such conditions exist in hydrothermal systems during the fluid migration to the surface. Five stages of the origin of primary living cells have been identified. In the initial stages (1–3), which occurred in the subsurface areas of hydrothermal systems, self-assembly of organic microsystems and their primary evolution to the level of protolife (subcells with a primary protein-synthesizing apparatus without DNA) occurred due to geothermal energy. With the exit of subcells on the surface in geothermal regions, life (as we know it) emerged due to the involvement of solar energy into the process: a cell growth cycle appeared and formed a genetic apparatus (4–5).

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