Papineau, D, She, Z, Dodd, MS et al. (5 more authors) (2022) Metabolically diverse primordial microbial communities in Earth’s oldest seafloor-hydrothermal jasper. Science Advances, 8 (15). eabm2296. ISSN 2375-2548
Abstract
The oldest putative fossils occur as hematite filaments and tubes in jasper-carbonate banded iron formations from the 4280- to 3750-Ma Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, Québec. If biological in origin, these filaments might have affinities with modern descendants; however, if abiotic, they could indicate complex prebiotic forms on early Earth. Here, we report images of centimeter-size, autochthonous hematite filaments that are pectinate-branching, parallel-aligned, undulated, and containing Fe2+-oxides. These microstructures are considered microfossils because of their mineral associations and resemblance to younger microfossils, modern Fe-bacteria from hydrothermal environments, and the experimental products of heated Fe-oxidizing bacteria. Additional clusters of irregular hematite ellipsoids could reflect abiotic processes of silicification, producing similar structures and thus yielding an uncertain origin. Millimeter-sized chalcopyrite grains within the jasper-carbonate rocks have 34S- and 33S-enrichments consistent with microbial S-disproportionation and an O2-poor atmosphere. Collectively, the observations suggest a diverse microbial ecosystem on the primordial Earth that may be common on other planetary bodies, including Mars.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Apr 2022 09:50 |
Last Modified: | 14 Apr 2022 09:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Identification Number: | 10.1126/sciadv.abm2296 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185602 |
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