Evolution of the Moon's orbit and the origin of life

Indications about the past history of the lunar orbit that are yielded by palaeontological data derived from periodicities in fossil corals are shown to suggest that the moon approached the earth 2,850 plus or minus 250 Myr BP. Convergent evidence in the geological record indicates that a pulse of high temperature volcanism occurred about 2800 Myr BP. The implied catastrophe roughly coincides with the first records of life. It seems within the realm of possibility that a global thermal event might have been involved in the origin of life.