Geochemical constraints on the Hadean environment from mineral fingerprints of prokaryotes

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Novoselov, Alexey A., Silva, Dailto, Schneider, Jerusa, Abrevaya, Ximena Celeste, Chaffin, Michael S., Serrano, Paloma, Navarro, Margareth Sugano, Conti, Maria Josiane, Souza Filho, Carlos Roberto de
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer
• Subjects: ASTROBIOLOGY; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Argentina; Navarro; Paloma; Ximena; Alfred Wegener Institute
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/23793

The environmental conditions on the Earth before 4 billion years ago are highly uncertain, largely because of the lack of a substantial rock record from this period. During this time interval, known as the Hadean, the young planet transformed from an uninhabited world to the one capable of supporting, and inhabited by the first living cells. These cells formed in a fluid environment they could not at first control, with homeostatic mechanisms developing only later. It is therefore possible that present-day organisms retain some record of the primordial fluid in which the first cells formed. Here we present new data on the elemental compositions and mineral fingerprints of both Bacteria and Archaea, using these data to constrain the environment in which life formed. The cradle solution that produced this elemental signature was saturated in barite, sphene, chalcedony, apatite, and clay minerals. The presence of these minerals, as well as other chemical features, suggests that the cradle environment of life may have been a weathering fluid interacting with dry-land silicate rocks. The specific mineral assemblage provides evidence for a moderate Hadean climate with dry and wet seasons and a lower atmospheric abundance of CO2 than is present today. Fil: Novoselov, Alexey A. Universidad de Concepción; Chile Fil: Silva, Dailto. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil Fil: Schneider, Jerusa. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil Fil: Abrevaya, Ximena Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentina Fil: Chaffin, Michael S. State University Of Colorado Boulder; Estados Unidos Fil: Serrano, Paloma. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre For Polar And Marine Research,; Alemania Fil: Navarro, Margareth Sugano. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; ...