Michael Russell (scientist)

Michael Russell is a British geologist who works on the origin of life.

Russell is the originator of the theory that life emerged at alkaline submarine hydrothermal vents. Russell's theory is that hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and methane, released from submarine alkaline hydrothermal vents, acted upon nitrate, ferrous and ferric iron, carbon dioxide, and protons in ambient ocean waters to form simple organic molecules Russell studied 360-million-year-old mineral deposits in Ireland, which led to his insight that iron sulfide and hydroxide cells may have provided three-dimensional molds for the first cell walls. Provided by Wikipedia