This paper seeks to expand the scope of the alkaline seepage sitehydrothermal mound scenario of Russell et al, by appealing to its wider canvasfor hypothesizing self-assembly of gregite clusters via interplay of forceswithin the gel phase of FeS membranes: directed heat transport a laRayleigh-Benard convection for dissociation, vs oriented attachment (smallclusters) and magnetic forces (large clusters) for association, the latterassisted by magnetic mound constituents. The directed movement of tiny clustersthrough cluster layers are reminiscent of processes like budding, molecularmotors, pre-RNA world on the lines of Cairns-Smith's hypothesis, and opticalpolarity. Higher rate of (soft) multinucleate formation vs growth rate of(rigid) microcrystals, correlates with icosahedral (forbiddencrystallographically!) framboidal morphology. This pattern indicates a link tophylotaxis, thus reinforcing the quasi-periodicity connection which can providea natural access to features like surface limit, anomalous transport and lowthermal conductivity, while facilitating diffusion through clusters. Andmagnetism offers a hierarchy of features: primordial multicellularity; phasecorrelations of assembled molecules; overcoming thermal decoherence. Thesedynamical nested structures offer possibilities for iterative computations,adaptive learning, and coherent quantum searches. The link between enzymaticFeS clusters and the Hadean ocean floor is seen as part of a larger conceptualframework uncovering a role for Magnetism and the Origin of Life.
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