Study Finds Signs of Life in Ancient Lava

Science - Reuters ^ | 2004-04-23

[Junior]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tiny, bacteria-like organisms made their home in hardened lava some 3.5 billion years ago, scientists reported on Friday in a finding that pushes the limits of when life is known to have started on Earth.

The microbes, known as archaea, dug into volcanic rock to form long tubes. A team from the United States, Norway, Canada, and South Africa found evidence of the lava-burrowing archaea in 3.5 billion-year-old rock in South Africa.

"Our evidence is among the oldest evidence for life found so far," said Hubert Staudigel, a research geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Writing in Friday's issue of the journal Science, Staudigel and colleagues said they found tell-tale tubes in "pillow lava" in South Africa's Barberton Greenstone Belt, which was formed underwater in the oceanic crust but is now above ground.

"This area within the oceanic crust is a favorable place for the origin of life," Staudigel said. "It offers relatively easy access to seawater and volcanic environments such as deep-sea hydrothermal systems -- including a wide range of catalysts that are required in the origin of life."

So far, no one has found indisputable remains of the very earliest life. The main problem is that most of these ancient rocks have been through geologic processes of heating, pressure and folding that would destroy any evidence.

In 1996 researchers found rocks in Greenland that they dated to 3.85 billion years ago containing what they believe were traces of bacteria. In 1999 a team found remains of 2.7 billion-year-old algae in Australian shale.

In Friday's report, the researchers said they found carbon along the inside of the tubes that may represent organic material left behind by microbes.

At the time, "there were no plants or animals to eat," Staudigel said. "So to make a living these microbes adapted to eating volcanic rock. That's all there was."

Archaea still exist. They make up many of the so-called extremophiles -- organisms found in extreme environments such as undersea vents, hot sulfur springs and Antarctica.

[Junior]

I did a quick search and didn't see this posted.

[farmfriend]

.

[VadeRetro]

Interesting stuff. So maybe the Archaea are aptly named.

[Adder]

That would put life starting right when the earth formed...4bil yrs ago. Thats pretty heady when you think on it.

[Junior]

Actually, it's about a billion years after the Earth formed (~4.5 bya).

[PatrickHenry]

PING. [This list is for the evolution side of evolution threads, and some other science topics like cosmology. Long-time list members get all pings, but can request evo-only status. New additions will be evo-only, but can request all pings. FReepmail me to be added or dropped. Specify all pings or you'll get evo-pings only.]

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[blam]

"That would put life starting right when the earth formed...4bil yrs ago. Thats pretty heady when you think on it."

Life was bombarding earth eons before this time. Conditions on earth shifted enough to favor life taking root here, too.

[aruanan]

Bacteria are everywhere-BUMP

[Junior]

That's a bit of a powerful assertion. While there is evidence that life may have extra-terrestrial origins (organic chemicals have been detected in interstellar gas clouds, and very primitive [though non-organic] cell-wall like structures have also been found in meteorite remains) it is not "set in stone" that life here began out there.

[jennyp]

Actually, it's about a billion years after the Earth formed (~4.5 bya).

Anybody know what the consensus estimate is for when the Earth cooled enough for water to stay liquid in the oceans?

[Junior]

Dunno. The best I can find doing a web search is that oceans formed a few hundred million years after the Earth formed.

[AndrewC]

Tiny, bacteria-like organisms made their home in hardened lava some 3.5 billion years ago,

The microbes, known as archaea, dug into volcanic rock to form long tubes.

In 1996 researchers found rocks in Greenland that they dated to 3.85 billion years ago containing what they believe were traces of bacteria.

Interesting, absent any fossils, how tubes with traces of carbon lead to a conclusion of archaea. I have been unable to find any archaea presently identified as leaving tunnels in lava. Maybe you can help me find them.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from April 26, 2004.

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Note: this topic is from April 26, 2004. 3.5 billion years ago To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[colorado tanker]

Note: this topic is from April 26, 2004.

Yes, it's an archaeic thread.

[SunkenCiv]

LOLOLOL!