Prebiotic Phosphorylation of Thymidine at 65° C in Simulated Desert Conditions

Abstract

IN many deserts the surface is heated to high temperatures by the Sun each day. In the Sonoran Desert at Yuma, Arizona, for example, the mean surface temperature exceeds 40° C for 10 h and exceeds 50° C for 4 h on an average summer day¹. The highest recorded temperature is 65° C. These temperatures are not extreme; they are typical of fairly large areas of the Earth's surface today. Surface temperatures have been recorded in excess of 75° C in Death Valley, California, on a summer afternoon (W. Fuller and R. Sanchez, unpublished results). The maximum surface temperature recorded on the Earth, outside volcanoes or hot springs, is 82° C².