<<    Today, lifelong cave-dwelling organisms, subterranean microbes,
deep-sea hydrothermal vents and suchlike may never actually encounter
sunlight, but they depend on it nonetheless because they use oxygen
generated elsewhere by photosynthesis. Such oxygen is also used by bacteria
that exploit chemical transformations - such as those involving sulphur or
iron compounds - to "chemosynthesise" their organic matter. A few anaerobic
bacteria can chemosynthesise organic matter using energy from the oxidation
of hydrogen by sulphate, carbonate or nitrate instead of oxygen, but their
hydrogen is generated by other bacteria from previously photosynthesised
organic matter.

      Nevertheless, there is no reason in principle why "mineral" hydrogen,
which could be generated chemically from water, might not act as a primary
energy source independent of sunlight, supporting an ecology based wholly on
chemosynthesis. >>


TH
Again, I don't think so.
IF life is not  a series of fluke chem accidents
(and it is not)
and IF it is a reaction to a non random forced
cyclical energy source that forces a chem
that produces novel variants , that in turn
have better survived by using that energy
to further survive,

THEN the sun is vital to all life as the
first paragraph above made clear.
Without the sun , it is like saying
You can have the echo without the voice.

Tom
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 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 11/9/04 4:57:58 PM