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2007 Annual Science Report

University of Colorado, Boulder Reporting  |  JUL 2006 – JUN 2007

Re-Tracing Steps Towards a Habitable World: The Biogeochemical Evolution of Sulfur on the Early Earth.

Project Summary

In the last year, we have reported work on the origin of the crust from analysis of rare isotopes in Hadean zircons from Western Australia, established the ages of the oldest and best preserved sediments in Canada at Inukjuak (Quebec) and completed our analysis of multiple sulfur isotopes from the transition from an oxygen-poor to oxygen-rich surface across the Paleoproterozoic.

4 Institutions
3 Teams
0 Publications
0 Field Sites
Field Sites

Project Progress

In the last year, we have reported work on the origin of the crust from analysis of rare isotopes in Hadean zircons from Western Australia, established the ages of the oldest and best preserved sediments in Canada at Inukjuak (Quebec) and completed our analysis of multiple sulfur isotopes from the transition from an oxygen-poor to oxygen-rich surface across the Paleoproterozoic. The publications arising from this work are listed elsewhere in this report.In the last year, we have reported work on the origin of the crust from analysis of rare isotopes in Hadean zircons from Western Australia, established the ages of the oldest and best preserved sediments in Canada at Inukjuak (Quebec) and completed our analysis of multiple sulfur isotopes from the transition from an oxygen-poor to oxygen-rich surface across the Paleoproterozoic. The publications arising from this work are listed elsewhere in this report.

Figure 1 Unavailable.

Figure 1. (L-R) Dustin Trail, Nicole Cates and Stephen Mojzsis at the Hellroaring Plateau locality, Beartooth Mts., southern Montana. This short 7-day field project was to perform geologic mapping and sample collected of pre.3.3 billion year old sedimentary rocks in Montana.

  • PROJECT INVESTIGATORS:
    Stephen Mojzsis Stephen Mojzsis
    Project Investigator
  • PROJECT MEMBERS:
    Juha Karhu
    Collaborator

    Craig Manning
    Collaborator

    Bernard Marty
    Collaborator

    Kevin McKeegan
    Collaborator

    Alexander Pavlov
    Collaborator

    Axel Schmitt
    Collaborator

    Boswell Wing
    Collaborator

    Edward Young
    Collaborator

    Nicole Cates
    Doctoral Student

    Dominic Papineau
    Doctoral Student

    Dustin Trail
    Graduate Student

  • RELATED OBJECTIVES:
    Objective 1.1
    Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets

    Objective 4.1
    Earth's early biosphere

    Objective 4.2
    Foundations of complex life

    Objective 5.1
    Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms

    Objective 5.2
    Co-evolution of microbial communities

    Objective 6.1
    Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems