Life on the early Earth inhabited a planet whose environ-ment was vastly different from the Earth of today. An anaerobic and hot early Earth was the birthplace of the first living cells but the wide-spread small-scale physico-chemical diversity provided opportunities for a variety of specialists: alkalophiles, acidophiles, halophiles etc. The earliest record of life has been lost due to plate tectonic recycling and the oldest preserved terranes are quite altered by metamorphism, although they contain weak traces of fossil life. As of ~3.5 Ga, ancient sediments are so well-preserved that a broad diversity of micro-environments and fossil traces of life can be studied, providing a surprising window into communities of microbes that had already reached the evolutionary stage of photosynthesis.
Westall F., H.K. (2019). Biosignatures in Deep Time. Bern : Springer International Publishing [10.1007/978-3-319-96175-0_7].
Biosignatures in Deep Time
HICKMAN-LEWIS, KEYRONWriting – Original Draft Preparation
;Cavalazzi B.Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2019
Abstract
Life on the early Earth inhabited a planet whose environ-ment was vastly different from the Earth of today. An anaerobic and hot early Earth was the birthplace of the first living cells but the wide-spread small-scale physico-chemical diversity provided opportunities for a variety of specialists: alkalophiles, acidophiles, halophiles etc. The earliest record of life has been lost due to plate tectonic recycling and the oldest preserved terranes are quite altered by metamorphism, although they contain weak traces of fossil life. As of ~3.5 Ga, ancient sediments are so well-preserved that a broad diversity of micro-environments and fossil traces of life can be studied, providing a surprising window into communities of microbes that had already reached the evolutionary stage of photosynthesis.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
