Lightning may have sparked life on Earth, study finds

The arrival of rocks from space has long been tied to the production of phosphorus – vital for the emergence of life on our planet

But scientists are offering an alternative explanation: lightning strikes could have produced phosphorus-giving minerals billions of years ago

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Lightning bolts strike around the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain near southern Osorno city in Chile in June 2011. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:04am, 17 Mar 2021Updated: 3:03am, 17 Mar 2021

Lightning strikes may have supplied primordial Earth with enough phosphorus to support the emergence of life, according to new research on Tuesday that offered an alternative explanation as to how living organisms were born.

Phosphorus is a vital building block of life as we know it, forming basic cell structures and the double helix shape of DNA and RNA.

Billions of years ago on early Earth, most of the available phosphorus was locked away in insoluble minerals.

However one mineral, schreibersite, is highly reactive and produces phosphorus capable of forming organic molecules.

An artist's rendition shows the early Earth environment, as lightning generated by storms and volcanic plumes frequently struck volcanic rocks. The lightning strikes create objects called fulgurites that contain phosphorus in a form that can be dissolved in water and concentrate in waters like volcanic ponds and is able to form biomolecules that could help lead to the emergence of life. Image: Lucy Entwisle via Reuters

Since most schreibersite on Earth comes from meteorites, the emergence of life here has long been thought to be tied to the arrival of extraterrestrial rocks.