Title :

Chemical nature of the 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool microfossils

Author(s) :

Alleon, Julien [Auteur]
Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie [IMPMC]
Bernard, Sylvain [Auteur]
Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie [IMPMC]
Le Guillou, Corentin [Auteur]
Unité Matériaux et Transformations - UMR 8207 [UMET]
Beyssac, Olivier [Auteur]
Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie [IMPMC]
Sugitani, K. [Auteur]
Robert, F [Auteur]
Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie [IMPMC]

Journal title :

Geochemical Perspectives Letters

Pages :

37-42

Publication date :

2018

HAL domain(s) :

Planète et Univers [physics]/Astrophysique [astro-ph]
Physique [physics]/Matière Condensée [cond-mat]/Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]
Physique [physics]/Astrophysique [astro-ph]
Planète et Univers [physics]/Sciences de la Terre
Chimie/Matériaux
Physique [physics]/Physique [physics]/Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

English abstract : [en]

The biogenicity of putative traces of life found in early-Archean rocks is strongly debated. To date, only equivocal lines of evidence have been reported, which has prevented a full consensus from emerging. Here we report ...
Show more >The biogenicity of putative traces of life found in early-Archean rocks is strongly debated. To date, only equivocal lines of evidence have been reported, which has prevented a full consensus from emerging. Here we report elemental and molecular data from individual organic microfossils preserved within the 3.4 billion-year-old cherts of the Strelley Pool Formation, Western Australia. The present results support the growing body of evidence advocating their biogenicity, promoting them as the oldest known authentic organic microfossils. These microfossils consist of nitrogen- and oxygen- rich organic molecules that have been only slightly degraded despite experiencing temperatures of ~300 °C. Such molecular preservation emphasises the palaeobiological potential of the Earth’s oldest geological record, whilst providing a promising window into the early biosphere.Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Audience :

Internationale

Popular science :

Non

Administrative institution(s) :

Université de Lille
ENSCL
CNRS
INRA

Collections :

• Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET) - UMR 8207

Research team(s) :

Matériaux Terrestres et Planétaires

Submission date :

2019-05-17T09:24:50Z
2019-10-22T14:16:16Z
2020-03-30T08:55:03Z