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Akilia

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Akilia is the name of a small island (~2.3 km by 1.4 km) south of the town of Nuuk on the SW coast of Greenland (63.933°N, 51.667°W). The Akilia sequence of rocks has its name from this island, but they occur throughout the Eoarchean of West Greenland. The Akilia sequence consists mainly of granitic gneiss and includes some of the oldest rocks on Earth. The largest member of this group of rocks is the ca. 3.8 Ga-old Isua supracrustal belt composed of metamorphosed pillow basalts, clastic, and chemical sediments that constitute the oldest known supracrustal sequence. Fractionated C, N, and S isotopic compositions of materials of probable sedimentary origin are thought to be biogenic and to provide the oldest record of life on Earth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nordic Center for Earth’s Evolution, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Minik T. Rosing

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  1. Minik T. Rosing
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Correspondence to Minik T. Rosing .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rosing, M.T. (2014). Akilia. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_41-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_41-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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