Читать книгу EXTREMOPHILES as Astrobiological Models - Группа авторов - Страница 29

The worldwide abundance of fumaroles compared to hot springs make this an ideal choice as a habitat for early development of life on Earth. These primitive steam habitats characterized by two extreme physical features, low pH and high temperature, typically flourish with Archaea. The fact that these organisms seem to have persisted from the earliest times argues that they may represent the type of living organism that could have evolved else-where beyond planet Earth. Steam caves/vents, while limited in diversity [1.7], represent and remain a rich and potentially useful and reliable source for isolation of unknown and unexplored life forms.