Abstract
Micropalaeontological studies of carbonaceous cherts have revealed fossilized algae estimated to be 3.1 Gyr old (Schopf, 1970; Schopf and Barghoorn, 1967). R. Buick and J.S.R. Dunlop (1979, personal communication) have described microfossils occurring in a 3.5 Gyr old chert-barite bed. These fossilized organisms may have had affinities with cyanobacteria or sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Algal fossils of the genus Collenia are similarly preserved in Precambrian black cherts of Central Australia. The alkanes, phytane and pristane, are present in these deposits, and C12/C13 ratios confirm their photosynthetic origin. Organic molecules likely to survive lithification are those with greatest thermal stability — hydrocarbons and porphyrins. Chlorophyll-derived porphyrins and chlorins are widely found in Precambrian deposits through to the present-day sedimentary off-shore marine muds. The isoprenoid alkanes, phytane and pristane, occur in nearly all Precambrian rocks (McKirdy, 1974). Near-shore deposits have yielded 7-methyl- and 8-methyl-heptadecanes (Sever and Parker, 1970).
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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor M. R. Lemberg.
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© 1980 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Barrett, J. (1980). The Contribution of the Chlorophyll-Carotenoid Protein Complexes of Brown Seaweeds to the Petrogenic Silt of the Oceans. In: Biogeochemistry of Ancient and Modern Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-26582-6_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-26582-6_22
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