Layered rocks in Western Australia are among the earliest, according to new research.
Stromatolites are fossils.cyanobacterial mats, layered rocks formed by secretions of photosynthetic microbes. According to scientists, the oldest of them created living organisms 3.43 billion years ago.
However, in a new study, expertsfound and analyzed older samples. Thus, in the Dresser Formation in Western Australia, stromatolites with an age of 3.48 billion were discovered. They are 500 million years older.
It is noteworthy that the age of the Earth is 4.54billion years (with an error of ±1%). These data are based on radioisotope dating of meteorites (chondrites) formed before the formation of planets.
The study was not easy, the authors note.new research. The fact is that billions of years have erased traces of organic matter in these ancient stromatolites. It was not easy to understand whether the formations were actually formed by microbes or whether they appeared as a result of other geological processes. However, scientists have proven it was ancient life.
Dresser Formation stromatolite sample,showing a complex layered structure formed by hematite, barite and quartz, and a dome-shaped top surface. Image courtesy of Keiron Hickman-Lewis
“We have found specific microstructuresin certain layers of these rocks that clearly indicate early biological processes,” said Keiron Hickman-Lewis, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London who led the study.
The findings have implications for the search for lifeon Mars. Stromatolites of the Dresser Formation are encrusted with iron oxide as a result of the reaction of iron with oxygen in the atmosphere. According to Hickman-Lewis, the surface of Mars is also oxidized, hence the rusty orange hue. Its rocks may contain similar structures left behind by ancient microbial life.
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On the cover: Paul Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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