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The role of quartz in the origin of optical activity on earth
1Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. klab@cacr.ioc.ac.ru
Abstract:
A thorough analysis of literature data on distribution of right and left quartz in many locations on the surface of Earth indicates that quartz enantiomorph crystals are distributed in equal amounts in all locations. Therefore optically active quartz crystals of one or the other enantiomorph could not serve as the source of homochirality in the evolution of biosphere. Hence the calculation of a PVED based on published 'small excess of left quartz crystals' on Earth lacks a sound physical basis.