Tidal Pool Green

Each time I see a tidal pool I can't help but think back to a research paper I wrote during my post-grad at Carleton U. in Ottawa. I'll skip the gory biochemistry and quantum mechanics and take the easy, Web 2.0 route and just link to this article on Primordial Soup

up at Wikipedia.

The basic gist of the various theories of primordial evolution is the attempt to answer the question "What started it all?" How did such complex constituents of life such as DNA, RNA, sugars, proteins, etc. ever get created in the first place?

The answer to this big question revolves around the events that lead up to the creation of a diverse and sustained primordial soup of basic organic molecules. Heat, pressure, ultraviolet radiation, lightening, etc. combined to bond together the very basics (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen) into simple sugars, the precursors of DNA, etc. In fact if you put the basics of our planet a billion or so years after it cooled enough to be called a planet into a flask, heat and zap it for a few days you'll get the basics of life. Skip needing 7 days, a good bit of electricity can get things rolling in 2.

Anyway, I nearly metaphysically digressed. Back to the reason for the picture above.

The downside to most theories on primoridal evolutions theory is that ... well it's a big nasty ocean. Even if the right combination of events occurred to create your run of the mill amino acids the harsh oceanic environment would quickly break them back down to their constituent atomic bits.

In come the Tidal Pools to save the day. These wonderfully aromatic pockets at the edges of any of the seven seas act as natural concentration points for the goop of life and, even more important, protect the nascent stuff-o-life (tm), at least for awhile, from the ravages of the ocean. With tidal pools life get's a chance to start and evolve and eventually we get MP3 players and wardrobe malfunctions at Super Bowls.

Here's the dramatic finish. Tidal pools of course only exist because our oceans have tides. And we have tides thanks to having a moon. So, the next time you see a full moon rising think of the kittens. Without the moon and the tides it creates kittens would very likely not exist.