Feb. 26, 2019
Research Highlight
Ancient Rocks Provide Clues to Earth’s Early History
Stromatolites in Shark Bay, Western Australia, are thought to be some of the most ancient forms of life on Earth and are comprised of organisms that probably contributed to the O2 scientists are inferring existed on ancient Earth (i.e., cyanobacteria).Image credit: Ariel Anbar, ASU.
A recent study by astrobiologists at Arizona State University reveals new information about the build up of oxygen in ancient environments on Earth. The research focused on 2.5-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks in Western Australia that date to the late Archaean. The data indicates that the rocks contain manganese oxides, which requires that the water columns in the Archaean ocean at this location were fully oxygenated.
To read the full article from Arizona State University, visit:
https://asunow.asu.edu/20190222-ancient-rocks-provide-clues-earth%E2%80%99s-early-history
The study, “Fully oxygenated water columns over continental shelves before the Great Oxidation Event,” was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The work was supported in part by NASA Astrobiology through the Exobiology Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI).