Part 5/9:
The deep-sea hydrothermal vent environment provides a plausible setting for the emergence of primitive metabolic pathways. The mixing of acidic ocean waters with alkaline hydrothermal fluids creates mineral-rich pores capable of sustaining electrochemical gradients. Bacteria and primitive autotrophs could have harnessed these gradients to drive reactions such as converting CO₂ and H₂ into organic compounds. These systems mimic modern biological energy generation and could have been the precursors to true cellular life.