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This volume integrates the latest findings on earliest life forms, identified and characterised in some of the oldest rocks on Earth. New material from prominent researchers in the field is presented and evaluated in the context of previous work. Emphasis is placed on the integration of analytical methods with observational techniques and experimental simulations. The opening section focuses on submarine hot springs that the majority of researchers postulates served as the cradle of life on Earth. In subsequent sections, evidence for life in strongly metamorphosed rocks such as those in Greenland is evaluated and early ecosystems identified in the well preserved Barberton and Pilbara successions in Southern Africa and Western Australia. The final section includes a number of contributions from authors with alternate perspectives on the evidence and record of early life on Earth.
Audience
This volume will be valuable to researchers and graduate students in biogeosciences, geochemistry, paleontology and geology interested in the origin of life on earth.
List of contents
Preface
Contributors
Dedication to John F. Lindsay
Introduction; Miryam Glikson and Suzanne D. Golding
Part I: Submarine hot springs and venting environments - cradle of life
Earliest seafloor hydrothermal systems on Earth: Comparison with modern analogues; Suzanne D. Golding et al
Archean hydrothermal systems in the Barberton Greenstone Belt and their significance as a habitat for early life; Axel Hofmann
Birth of biomolecules from the warm wet sheets of clays near spreading centres; Lynda.B. Williams et al
Part II: Evidence and record of earliest life on Earth
Towards a null hypothesis for stromatolites; Martin D. Brasier
Trace element geochemistry as a tool for interpreting microbialites; Gregory E. Webb and Balz S. Kamber
A modern perspective on ancient life: microbial mats in sandy marine settings from the Archean Era to today; Nora Noffke
Early life record from nitrogen isotopes; Daniele L. Pinti and Ko Hashizume
Part III: Distinguishing biological from abiotically synthesized organic matter in the early archean
Integration of observational and analytical methodologies to characterize organic matter in early Archean rocks: distinguishing biological from abiotically synthesized carbonaceous matter structures; Miryam Glikson et al
Bugs or gunk? Nanoscale methods for assessing the biogenicity of ancient microfossils and organic matter; Bradley T. De Gregorio et al
What can carbon isotopes tell us about sources of reduced carbon in rocks from the early Earth; Thomas M. McCollom
Index
Summary
This volume integrates the latest findings on earliest life forms, identified and characterised in some of the oldest rocks on Earth. New material from prominent researchers in the field is presented and evaluated in the context of previous work. Emphasis is placed on the integration of analytical methods with observational techniques and experimental simulations. The opening section focuses on submarine hot springs that the majority of researchers postulates served as the cradle of life on Earth. In subsequent sections, evidence for life in strongly metamorphosed rocks such as those in Greenland is evaluated and early ecosystems identified in the well preserved Barberton and Pilbara successions in Southern Africa and Western Australia. The final section includes a number of contributions from authors with alternate perspectives on the evidence and record of early life on Earth.
Audience
This volume will be valuable to researchers and graduate students in biogeosciences, geochemistry, paleontology and geology interested in the origin of life on earth.
