Glaciers, volcanic islands and the origin of life

Current models for the timing and extent of early continental crust formation, as well as for the climate of the primitive Earth, lead to the suggestion that the earliest, stable, terrestrial locales may have been volcanic islands which were partially glaciated. Recent experimental results on the synthesis of biologically important molecules in ice, suggest that such glaciated, volcanic islands would have provided uniquely favorable sites for the earliest stages of chemical evolution.