Cleaves H J, Miller S L
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0506, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jun 23;95(13):7260-3. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.13.7260.
It is frequently stated that UV light would cause massive destruction of prebiotic organic compounds because of the absence of an ozone layer. The elevated UV flux of the early sun compounds this problem. This applies to organic compounds of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial origin. Attempts to deal with this problem generally involve atmospheric absorbers. We show here that prebiotic organic polymers as well as several inorganic compounds are sufficient to protect oceanic organic molecules from UV degradation. This aqueous protection is in addition to any atmospheric UV absorbers and should be a ubiquitous planetary phenomenon serving to increase the size of planetary habitable zones.
人们常说,由于缺乏臭氧层,紫外线会导致前生物有机化合物大量破坏。早期太阳紫外线通量的增加使这个问题更加严重。这适用于来自地球和地球外的有机化合物。解决这个问题的尝试通常涉及大气吸收剂。我们在此表明,前生物有机聚合物以及几种无机化合物足以保护海洋有机分子免受紫外线降解。这种水体保护除了任何大气紫外线吸收剂之外,应该是一种普遍存在的行星现象,有助于扩大行星宜居带的范围。