Prebiotic Synthesis Experiment:

Part I

Part II

This experiment should employ granular protoplanetary particle analogues (GPPPAs or G3PAs) mimicking the ice-mantled grains that would've existed on the snowline of the protoplanetary Solar disk, with each G3PA consisting of a clayey, silicate-heavy grain core surrounded by an H₂O-rich ice mantle.

Part II.a.

Part II.a-1.

Grain composition — clays/silicates, adenine, guanine, pyrimidine, uracil.

Part II.a-2.

Part II.b.

Should be a reducing hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

Part III

The grains should vary considerably in the proportions of their composition. The grains should be placed in some kind of a transparent tray that can be irradiated with UV light from below.

Part IV

Hypothetically, the sublimation of H₂O ices within the grain cores of the G3PAs will free other compounds that may react with one another in novel ways and perhaps form interesting bonds as these compounds re-settle during recondensation. Repeating this many times with many different G3PAs, we may be able to emulate the accretion of protoplanetary grains into larger bodies, as the freeing and re-settling of compounds transforms discrete grains into homogeneous strata.

Part V

References