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Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life
00167037/89/$3.00 + 00
Geochimica ef Cosmochimica Acta Vol.53, pp. 1481-1483 Copyright 8 1989 Maxwell PergmwnMann&mplc.Printedin U.S.A.
BOOK REVIEWS
Metal Speciatlon: Theory, Analysis and Application edited by James R. Kramer and Herbert E. Allen. Lewis obliged, 1988, 357p., $43.60 (ISBN O-87371-140-8). THE SPECIATION OF metals in aqueous fluids is presently a hot topic in environmental studies, biochemistry and geochemistry due to the recognition that it is not necessarily the total concentration which governs the behavior of a given metal in such systems, but the form which that metal takes in solution. This collection of papers is based on the invited contributions to a workshop on metal speciation held at Jekyll Island, Georgia, from May 20 to 22, 1987. As the editors state in their preface, the breadth of the topic precludes exhaustive coverage of ahaspects of metal speciation, and the &&en chapters may be considered broad overviews of some particular aspects of the theory, measurement and applications of metal speciation. Some important fields for which metal speciation is of great importance, but which are not directly covered in the book, am exploration geochemistry, ore metal transport in hy~o~e~~ solutions and radioactive waste disposal. Nevertheless, the fundamental material contained in the book should be of interest to researchers in these fields as well. As is to be expected for any such multi-authored work, the quality varies considerably from chapter to chapter. Some topics are covered in great detail, while others are given only a cursory treatment leaving the reader hungry for more. The first four chapters deal with theoretical considerations: equilibrium modeling of metal speciation in aqueous solution, modeling of the behavior and effects of dissolved metal and.otganic species at the ~~~~l~tion interface and simulation of reactions of trace metals
in groundwaters. The next five chapters are concerned with the dete~ination of the speciation of metals in natural waters and other geological media. These include discussions of polarograpby, anodic stripping voltammetry, chromatography and partial extraction techniques, Determination of binding site concentrations of humic substances is also covered. Finally, the last six chapters deal with appli&ions of metal speciation to such problems as the chemistry of platinum group metals in seawater, the tramper of metals in agricultural and environmental food-chains, the natnre of metals in soils and sediment& the effects of trace metals on microorganisms, the bioavailability of essential metals to humans, and the treatment and recovery of ‘metals from waste waters. I found most of the book quite clearIy written and easy to follow, and I felt thatreading it provided a useful update on the use of metal speciation studies in several fields outside my own area of expertise. Although it would probably ndt stand by itself as the sole textbook in courses in environmental science or geochemistry, it co&i provide useful supplementary reading for a graduate course. Thi price is reasonable for a book of its size, there is a minimum of typographical errors and the presentation is pleasing. The book belongs on the shelf of anyone involved in reseamh in environmental science, radioactive waste disposal, exploration geochemistry, ore metal transport, biochemistry of trace metals, marine and freshwater chemistry of trace metals, soil science and a variety of related disciplines. Departmentof GeologicalSciences McGill University Mo~reai~ Quebec, Canada, H3A 2A 7
Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life editedby A. G. CairnsSmitb and H. Hartman. Cambridge University Press, 1986, xiv + 193~. $34.50 (hard cover) (ISBN O-521-32408-4).
Scott A. Wood
most relevant for a potential biological coding function (papers by A. G. Cairns-Smith, S. W. Bailey, R. F. Giese, R. C. Reynolds, W. J. McHardy and H. van Olpben). Further contributions deal with the orincioal oathwavs of clav svnthesis (D. D. Eberl, H. Harder and B. !&ffert)& well as with the formation of clay minerals on the early Earth (G. S. Odin, R. C. Reynolds, H. Harder and G. Arrbenius) and in the solar system, specilically on Mars (A. Banin), and in meteorites (S. Chang and T. E. Bunch). Questions that are at the very heart of the clay-life hypothesis are addressed in the papers of the last two sections that assess the role of clay minerals as catalysts and as potential genes While T. J. Pinnavaia and J. G. Lawless summarize the essentials of clay-induced catalysis and clay-organic interactions, other authors (A. L. Mackay, A. G. Cairns-Smith, P. S. Braterman and D. P. Blcch) focus directly on “crystal genes” believed to be potentially capable of storing and replicating information (and on attendant corollaries). In the final chapter, the editors have thought it wise to resort to the ancient method of the “Socratic dialogue” as a suitable technique for bringing the truth to the forefront; this chapter is a fictitious conversation between Cairns-Smith and Hartman that throws up once more the crucial issues of the story, thereby raising questions and opening up vistas at the same time. In summary, this book should make educational reading for both those who believe in a key role of clays in the origin of life and those who do not. It is certainly a compulsory text for anyone with vested interests in questions of early organic evolution and the early history of life.
THIS BOOK IS the
printed distillate of a series of papers presented at a workshop held in Glasgow in summer 1983 to summaiixe the current state of what has come to be conventionally termed the “claylife hypothesis”. Elaborating on the observation that layer silicates like clay$ because of their ubiquitous occurrence and large surface, constitute microenvironments specihcally conducive to adsorption and surface-specific catalysis, some workers have assigned to clay minerals a crucial role in both prebiotic organic chemistry and early organic evolution. Conjectures on clay-organic interactions have, of late, culminated in the proposal by Cairns-Smith that clays may have served as the original genetic material before nucleic acids were invented or, in other words, that silicate-based precursor genes (“bypogenes”) were capable of performing the essential tin&ions of RNA, such as replicating their inherent information and transcribing’it to other molecules. As soon as nucleic acids as h&quality biological coding material had become available, clay-based life was doomed to be out~mpeted by those forms that had been quick enough to capitalixe on this innovation (“penetic takeover”). The contributions assembled in this volume review, on some 170 pages, the principal facets of the wide nm8e of interactions between clay minerals and organic substances, being folIowed by a reference list with 290 titles and an index. A set of introductory chapters starts with sketching the historical background of the topic (H. Kamminga and H. Hartman) and continues with general overviews on clay mineralogy, notably the crystaliographic and structural aspects that are
Max-Planck-Institut ftir Chemie D-6500 Mains F. R. Germany 1481
Manfred Schidlowski
Geochimica ef Cosmochimica Acta Vol.53, pp. 1481-1483 Copyright 8 1989 Maxwell PergmwnMann&mplc.Printedin U.S.A.
BOOK REVIEWS
Metal Speciatlon: Theory, Analysis and Application edited by James R. Kramer and Herbert E. Allen. Lewis obliged, 1988, 357p., $43.60 (ISBN O-87371-140-8). THE SPECIATION OF metals in aqueous fluids is presently a hot topic in environmental studies, biochemistry and geochemistry due to the recognition that it is not necessarily the total concentration which governs the behavior of a given metal in such systems, but the form which that metal takes in solution. This collection of papers is based on the invited contributions to a workshop on metal speciation held at Jekyll Island, Georgia, from May 20 to 22, 1987. As the editors state in their preface, the breadth of the topic precludes exhaustive coverage of ahaspects of metal speciation, and the &&en chapters may be considered broad overviews of some particular aspects of the theory, measurement and applications of metal speciation. Some important fields for which metal speciation is of great importance, but which are not directly covered in the book, am exploration geochemistry, ore metal transport in hy~o~e~~ solutions and radioactive waste disposal. Nevertheless, the fundamental material contained in the book should be of interest to researchers in these fields as well. As is to be expected for any such multi-authored work, the quality varies considerably from chapter to chapter. Some topics are covered in great detail, while others are given only a cursory treatment leaving the reader hungry for more. The first four chapters deal with theoretical considerations: equilibrium modeling of metal speciation in aqueous solution, modeling of the behavior and effects of dissolved metal and.otganic species at the ~~~~l~tion interface and simulation of reactions of trace metals
in groundwaters. The next five chapters are concerned with the dete~ination of the speciation of metals in natural waters and other geological media. These include discussions of polarograpby, anodic stripping voltammetry, chromatography and partial extraction techniques, Determination of binding site concentrations of humic substances is also covered. Finally, the last six chapters deal with appli&ions of metal speciation to such problems as the chemistry of platinum group metals in seawater, the tramper of metals in agricultural and environmental food-chains, the natnre of metals in soils and sediment& the effects of trace metals on microorganisms, the bioavailability of essential metals to humans, and the treatment and recovery of ‘metals from waste waters. I found most of the book quite clearIy written and easy to follow, and I felt thatreading it provided a useful update on the use of metal speciation studies in several fields outside my own area of expertise. Although it would probably ndt stand by itself as the sole textbook in courses in environmental science or geochemistry, it co&i provide useful supplementary reading for a graduate course. Thi price is reasonable for a book of its size, there is a minimum of typographical errors and the presentation is pleasing. The book belongs on the shelf of anyone involved in reseamh in environmental science, radioactive waste disposal, exploration geochemistry, ore metal transport, biochemistry of trace metals, marine and freshwater chemistry of trace metals, soil science and a variety of related disciplines. Departmentof GeologicalSciences McGill University Mo~reai~ Quebec, Canada, H3A 2A 7
Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life editedby A. G. CairnsSmitb and H. Hartman. Cambridge University Press, 1986, xiv + 193~. $34.50 (hard cover) (ISBN O-521-32408-4).
Scott A. Wood
most relevant for a potential biological coding function (papers by A. G. Cairns-Smith, S. W. Bailey, R. F. Giese, R. C. Reynolds, W. J. McHardy and H. van Olpben). Further contributions deal with the orincioal oathwavs of clav svnthesis (D. D. Eberl, H. Harder and B. !&ffert)& well as with the formation of clay minerals on the early Earth (G. S. Odin, R. C. Reynolds, H. Harder and G. Arrbenius) and in the solar system, specilically on Mars (A. Banin), and in meteorites (S. Chang and T. E. Bunch). Questions that are at the very heart of the clay-life hypothesis are addressed in the papers of the last two sections that assess the role of clay minerals as catalysts and as potential genes While T. J. Pinnavaia and J. G. Lawless summarize the essentials of clay-induced catalysis and clay-organic interactions, other authors (A. L. Mackay, A. G. Cairns-Smith, P. S. Braterman and D. P. Blcch) focus directly on “crystal genes” believed to be potentially capable of storing and replicating information (and on attendant corollaries). In the final chapter, the editors have thought it wise to resort to the ancient method of the “Socratic dialogue” as a suitable technique for bringing the truth to the forefront; this chapter is a fictitious conversation between Cairns-Smith and Hartman that throws up once more the crucial issues of the story, thereby raising questions and opening up vistas at the same time. In summary, this book should make educational reading for both those who believe in a key role of clays in the origin of life and those who do not. It is certainly a compulsory text for anyone with vested interests in questions of early organic evolution and the early history of life.
THIS BOOK IS the
printed distillate of a series of papers presented at a workshop held in Glasgow in summer 1983 to summaiixe the current state of what has come to be conventionally termed the “claylife hypothesis”. Elaborating on the observation that layer silicates like clay$ because of their ubiquitous occurrence and large surface, constitute microenvironments specihcally conducive to adsorption and surface-specific catalysis, some workers have assigned to clay minerals a crucial role in both prebiotic organic chemistry and early organic evolution. Conjectures on clay-organic interactions have, of late, culminated in the proposal by Cairns-Smith that clays may have served as the original genetic material before nucleic acids were invented or, in other words, that silicate-based precursor genes (“bypogenes”) were capable of performing the essential tin&ions of RNA, such as replicating their inherent information and transcribing’it to other molecules. As soon as nucleic acids as h&quality biological coding material had become available, clay-based life was doomed to be out~mpeted by those forms that had been quick enough to capitalixe on this innovation (“penetic takeover”). The contributions assembled in this volume review, on some 170 pages, the principal facets of the wide nm8e of interactions between clay minerals and organic substances, being folIowed by a reference list with 290 titles and an index. A set of introductory chapters starts with sketching the historical background of the topic (H. Kamminga and H. Hartman) and continues with general overviews on clay mineralogy, notably the crystaliographic and structural aspects that are
Max-Planck-Institut ftir Chemie D-6500 Mains F. R. Germany 1481
Manfred Schidlowski