A group of researchers from the University of Washington has discovered a unique “soda lake” in Western Canada, which may be an analogue of the ancient “little warm ponds” (according to Darwin) in which life appeared on our planet for more than 4 billion years. Earlier, according to SPACE.com’s report.

Scientists noted that this lake has the chemical composition and conditions that can facilitate the spontaneous synthesis of complex molecules that play an important role in the origin of life. They particularly noted the high concentration of dissolved phosphate in the lake, which is considered a key element in the prebiotic phosphorylation of nucleosides important for the origin of life.

Scientists studying the Last Chance and Goodenough lakes in Canada found that there was no geochemical precipitation of phosphorus and that calcium in the sediments was represented by dolomite, not apatite. This, along with reduced nitrogen fixation due to high salinity, creates favorable conditions for phosphate accumulation in the lake.

Evaporating soda lakes formed on basalt rock may have provided suitable conditions for the origin of life on early Earth by providing sufficient phosphate for the synthesis of prebiotics, the researchers note. This discovery sheds light on the potential origins of life on our planet. Source