Molecular evidence for life in the 3.5 billion year old Warrawoona chert |
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| Authors: | Sylvie Derenne Franois Robert Audrey Skrzypczak-Bonduelle Didier Gourier Laurent Binet Jean-Noël Rouzaud |
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| Institution: | aUMR CNRS 7618 BioEMCo, 11 rue P. M. Curie, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France;bLEME, UMS CNRS 62, MNHN, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France;cLCAES, UMR CNRS 7574, ENSCP, 11 rue P. M. Curie, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France;dLaboratoire de Géologie, UMR CNRS 8538, ENS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France |
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| Abstract: | The biological origin of organic matter in the oldest siliceous sediments (cherts) is still debated. To address this issue, the insoluble organic matter (kerogen) was isolated from a chert of the Warrawoona group. The chemical structure of the kerogen was investigated through a combination of analytical techniques including solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and pyrolysis. Although dominated by aromatic hydrocarbons, the pyrolysate comprises a homologous series of long chain aliphatic hydrocarbons characterized by odd-over-even carbon number predominance. This distribution is only consistent with a biological origin. As kerogen must be contemporaneous of the solidification of the chert, this observation should be regarded as an evidence for the presence of life on Earth, 3.5 By ago. |
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| Keywords: | chert kerogen Precambrian biomarker early life |
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