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Microfossil-like objects from the Archaean of Greenland: a cautionary note

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Abstract

Recent reports1–4 have described “yeast-like microfossils” (Isuasphaera isua Pflug2) in 3,800-Myr old5 metaquartzites from the Isua supracrustal belt of south-west Greenland. A biogenic interpretation of these objects is inconsistent with the tectonic history of the Isua region6–8, with the petrology of the metaquartzites, and with the morphology of the microstructures themselves. The putative microfossils are indistinguishable from limonite-stained fluid inclusions: microstructures which are demonstrably inorganic and post-depositional in origin. As such, we contend here that these objects should not be regarded as evidence of early Archaean life forms.

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Author notes

  1. D. Bridgwater

    Present address: The Geological Museum, Øster Voldgade 5, DK-1350, Copenhagen

  2. M. R. Walter

    Present address: Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, PO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Greenland Øster Voldgade 10, Copenhagen K, DK-1350, Denmark

    D. Bridgwater & J. H. Allaart

  2. Precambrian Paleobiology Research Group, Department of Earth and Space Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 91124

    J. W. Schopf, C. Klein & M. R. Walter

  3. Department of Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

    E. S. Barghoorn & P. Strother

  4. Department of Geology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, 44074

    A. H. Knoll

  5. Department of Geology, The University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 5B7, Canada

    B. E. Gorman

  6. Department of Geology, Indiana University, Bloomington, 47405, Indiana

    C. Klein

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  1. D. Bridgwater
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  4. C. Klein
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  6. E. S. Barghoorn
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  7. P. Strother
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  8. A. H. Knoll
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  9. B. E. Gorman
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Bridgwater, D., Allaart, J., Schopf, J. et al. Microfossil-like objects from the Archaean of Greenland: a cautionary note. Nature 289, 51–53 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289051a0

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