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The Beginnings of Life on Earth: Evidence from the Geological Record

  • Chapter
The Chemistry of Life’s Origins

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 416))

Abstract

With the currently available geological record at hand, there is no doubt that microbial (prokaryotic) ecosystems have been prolific on the Archaean Earth since 3.5, if not 3.8 Gyr ago. While the information encoded in the oldest record (>3.5 Gyr) is blurred by a metamorphic overprint, the paleontological and biogeochemical evidence pertinent to the existence of life at times < 3.5 Gyr is so firmly established as to be virtually unassailable. In spite of the marked impairment of the oldest sedimentary record, the residual evidence preserved is more than adequate to build a cogent case for the initiation of life processes as early as 3.8 Gyr ago, with the concomitant establishment of a biogeochemical carbon cycle based on the operation of (photo)autotrophic carbon fixation.

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Saarstrasse 23, D-6500, Mainz, Germany

    M. Schidlowski

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  1. Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

    J. M. Greenberg  & C. X. Mendoza-Gómez  & 

  2. Istituto di Fisica, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy

    V. Pirronello

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Schidlowski, M. (1993). The Beginnings of Life on Earth: Evidence from the Geological Record. In: Greenberg, J.M., Mendoza-Gómez, C.X., Pirronello, V. (eds) The Chemistry of Life’s Origins. NATO ASI Series, vol 416. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1936-8_15

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