Hypercarbonic World

From Wikinfo

The expression "hypercarbonic medium" describes the reactive properties of the oceanic environment of the early Earth under the atmospheric composition postulated in the Ecopoesis model [1], the "Hypercarbonic World" Owing to the high amount of dissolved CO₂, chemical species such as carbonic acid, bicarbonate and divalent ions (mainly the alkaline-earth magnesium) are present in much higher concentrations than in today's ocean, imparting carboxylating properties which may affect amino groups and carbanions. Under the thus arising carboxylation-decarboxylation equilibrium, many organic compounds would form series of closely related "hypercarbonic analogs", whose members differ solely by the amount of CO₂ added to their molecules.

The highly polar medium with a lowered water activity (A_w) governs the hydration-dehydration equilibrium. Additionally, a reduction-oxydation equilibrium is a part of the oceanic environment as a whole, poised between a lithosphere delivering reducing ions (mainly divalent iron and sulfur) and the oxic atmosphere. The factors determining the carboxylation-decarboxylation equilibrium and the hydration-dehydration equilibrium are termed permanent factors and are linked to very slightly fluctuating conditions whereas the reduction-oxidation equilibrium is governed by the so-called eventual (contingent) factors, which vary widely, within the redox extremes of the protobiological environment. The chemistry of the hypercarbonic medium lies at the heart of the ecopoesis model because it reconciles, as dictated by the principle of congruence, the biological relevance of carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions with the geological and astronomical evidence of a heavy CO₂ paleoatmosphere.

As of 29 Jan 2008 this page is an authorized abridged copy of the official Ecopoesis website [2]