Discovered: the oldest fossils on Earth , 3.4 billion years old

[Ichingcarpenter]

The Earth’s oldest fossils have been found in Australia by a team from the University of Western Australia and Oxford University. The microscopic fossils show convincing evidence for cells and bacteria living in an oxygen-free world over 3.4 billion years ago.

The team, led by Dr David Wacey of the University of Western Australia and including Professor Martin Brasier of Oxford University, report the finding in the journal Nature Geoscience. At last we have good solid evidence for life over 3.4 billion years ago. It confirms there were bacteria at this time, living without oxygen,’ says Professor Brasier of the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford.

The Earth was still a hot, violent place at this time, with volcanic activity dominating the early Earth. The sky was cloudy and grey, keeping the heat in despite the sun being weaker than today. The water temperature of the oceans was much higher at 40-50 degrees – the temperature of a hot bath – and circulating currents were very strong. Any land masses were small, or about the size of Caribbean islands, and the tidal range was huge.

Significantly, there was very little oxygen present as there were no plants or algae yet to photosynthesise and produce oxygen. The new evidence points to early life being sulphur-based, living off and metabolising compounds containing sulphur rather than oxygen for energy and growth.


more :http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/110822.html

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Sulfer started life first sounds like 'god' created

Hell first for his creations to start life.

[Owlet]

3. Good Point

Do these fossils have little horns on 'em? Any brimstone-based fossils been found yet? :evilgrin: Fascinating post: thanks!

[whathehell]

4. Is that your "point" of objection?

LOL.

[formercia]

5. Fire and Brimstone

doesn't sound very 'Garden of Eden'ish to me.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Fossil microbes discovered in Australia could be Earth's oldest known life form

Fossil microbes discovered in Australia could be Earth's oldest known life form

Fossils date to 3.4bn years ago, when landmasses first began to emerge from the oceans in an oxygen-free atmosphere
Ian Sample, science correspondent guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 August 2011 18.00 BST

The fossilised remains of microbes that lived beside the sea in the earliest chapter of life on Earth have been discovered in a slab of rock in Western Australia.

Researchers found the tiny fossils in rock formations that date to 3.4bn years ago, making them strong candidates to be the oldest microbes found. Some clung to grains of sand that had gathered on one of the first known stretches of beach.

The findings paint a vivid picture of life arising when the first land masses began to emerge in fragmentary fashion from the oceans. At the time, volcanic eruptions spewed gas and lava, while a blanket of thick cloud greyed the skies. The moon – much closer than it is today – pulled the oceans into vast tidal surges. There was no breathable oxygen.

"To us it would have seemed like a hellish place to live," said Prof Martin Brasier at Oxford University, who co-authored a report on the fossils in the journal Nature Geoscience. "To early life, this was paradise. A true Eden."

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/21/fossil-microbes-western-australia