Experiments show methane formation in water may have warmed early Earth

A group of German microbiologists and Earth scientists affiliated with multiple institutions have discovered that methane could have formed in water on Earth before the existence of life. Their study, published in the journal Nature Communications, involved conducting experiments simulating early Earth conditions to demonstrate the potential formation of methane.

Last year, the same research team identified a process through which methane can form in living organisms without the use of enzymes. This discovery prompted them to investigate whether the same process could occur outside of living creatures. To explore this possibility, they created multiple vials of water containing “starter chemicals” believed to be present in the early Earth’s water. These vials were then heated to temperatures ranging from 37°C to 97°C and incubated.

The researchers observed varying amounts of methane in the vapor produced by the vials, with higher temperatures leading to higher methane concentrations.

The findings of this study could potentially explain the “faint young sun” paradox, which relates to the temperature of the early Earth. Previous research has indicated that life originated on Earth approximately 3.7 billion years ago. However, the early Earth was significantly warmer than expected, considering the lower heat output of the sun at that time (approximately three-fourths of its present heat). Existing theories proposed that methane, as a greenhouse gas, could have trapped heat in the atmosphere and maintained a warmer climate. Until now, methane production was believed to only occur within hydrothermal vents through a process called serpentinization.

However, most models estimating the quantity of methane produced by hydrothermal vents suggest that it would not have been sufficient to explain the high temperatures of the early Earth. The current study’s findings suggest that methane was also being directly generated in water as it was heated by sunlight.

These research findings are expected to impact efforts to search for extraterrestrial life on other planets. Probes designed to detect methane are often used as evidence of the presence of living organisms.

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