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The most ancient traces of life dated from about 3.8 Ga. At that time, Earth’s surface was no longer the magma ocean that solidified 4.3 Ga ago or earlier. The primitive atmosphere inherited from the presolar nebula had disappeared, being replaced by a secondary atmosphere derived in part from the outgassing of the mantle and in part brought to the surface by extraterrestrial impactors and micrometeorites. This atmosphere was dominated not only by N2but also by several greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor. The extent of surfaces covered by the oceans is unknown, but it can be postulated that – since the continents had not yet formed – the absence of the present-day bimodal distribution of elevations on Earth caused water to cover most of the surface of the Archean Earth. Undoubtedly, sedimentary rocks existed on Earth since at least 3.5 Ga ago as shown by unambiguous sedimentary structures recorded from rocks in...
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References and Further Reading
Beaumont V, Robert F (1999) Nitrogen isotope ratios of kerogens in Precambrian cherts: a record of the evolution of atmosphere chemistry? Precambrian Res 96:63–82
De La Rocha CL, Brzezinski MA, DeNiro M (1997) Fractionation of silicon isotopes by marine diatoms during biogenic silica formation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:5051–5056
Gaucher EA, Govindarajan S, Ganesh OK (2008) Palaeotemperature trend for Precambrian life inferred from resurrected proteins. Nature 451(7179):704–707
Hayes JM, Kaplan IR, Wedeking KW (1983) Precambrian organic geochemistries, preservation of the record. In: Schopf WJ (ed) Earth’s earliest biosphere. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 92–134
Kasting J, Howard M, Wallmann K, Veizer J, Shields G, Jaffres J (2006) Paleoclimates, ocean depth, and the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater. Earth Planet Sci Lett 252:82–93
Knauth PL (1992) Origin and diagenesis of cherts: an isotopic perspective. In: Clauer N, Chaudhuri S (eds) Isotopic signatures and sedimentary records, vol 43, Lecture notes in earth sciences, pp 123–152
Knauth PL (1994) Petrogenesis of chert. Rev Mineral Geochem 29(1):233–258
Knauth LP, Epstein S (1976) Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in nodular and bedded cherts. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40:1095–1108
Knauth LP, Lowe DR (1978) Oxygen isotope geochemistry of cherts from the Onverwatch Group (3.4 billion years), Transvaal Group, South Africa, with implications for secular variations in the isotopic composition of cherts. J Geol 41:209–222
Knauth LP, Lowe DR (2003) High Archean climatic temperature inferred from oxygen isotope geochemistry of cherts in the 3.5 Ga Swaziland Supergroup, South Africa. GSA Bull 115:566–580
Perry EC Jr (1967) The oxygen isotopic chemistry of ancient cherts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 3:62–66
Robert F, Chaussidon M (2006) A palaeotemperature curve for the Precambrian oceans based on silicon isotopes in cherts. Nature 443:969–972
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Robert, F. (2014). Precambrian Oceans, Temperature of. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1099-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1099-4
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Latest
Precambrian Oceans, Temperature of- Published:
- 05 December 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1099-5
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Precambrian Oceans, Temperature of- Published:
- 04 May 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1099-4