Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon

Bell, Elizabeth A.; Boehnke, Patrick; Harrison, T. Mark; Mao, Wendy L.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1517557112

Title: Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon

Journal Article · 18 October 2015 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1517557112 · OSTI ID:1313070

Bell, Elizabeth A. ^[1];

^[1]; Harrison, T. Mark ^[1]; Mao, Wendy L. ^[2]

Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)

Here, evidence of life on Earth is manifestly preserved in the rock record. However, the microfossil record only extends to ~3.5 billion years (Ga), the chemofossil record arguably to ~3.8 Ga, and the rock record to 4.0 Ga. Detrital zircons from Jack Hills, Western Australia range in age up to nearly 4.4 Ga. From a population of over 10,000 Jack Hills zircons, we identified one >3.8-Ga zircon that contains primary graphite inclusions. Here, we report carbon isotopic measurements on these inclusions in a concordant, 4.10 ± 0.01-Ga zircon. We interpret these inclusions as primary due to their enclosure in a crack-free host as shown by transmission X-ray microscopy and their crystal habit. Their δ¹³C_PDB of –24 ± 5‰ is consistent with a biogenic origin and may be evidence that a terrestrial biosphere had emerged by 4.1 Ga, or ~300 My earlier than has been previously proposed.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1313070

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 47 Vol. 112; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Identifiable Acetylene Features Predicted for Young Earth-like Exoplanets with Reducing Atmospheres undergoing Heavy Bombardment Rimmer, P. B.; Ferus, M.; Waldmann, I. P. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1911.01643	text	January 2019
Revolutions in energy input and material cycling in Earth history and human history Lenton, Timothy M.; Pichler, Peter-Paul; Weisz, Helga Earth System Dynamics Discussions https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2015-90	journal	January 2016
Revolutions in energy input and material cycling in Earth history and human history Lenton, Timothy M.; Pichler, Peter-Paul; Weisz, Helga Earth System Dynamics, Vol. 7, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-353-2016	journal	January 2016
Molecular function limits divergent protein evolution on planetary timescales Konaté, Mariam M.; Plata, Germán; Park, Jimin eLife, Vol. 8 https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.39705	journal	September 2019
Trichoplax adhaerens reveals a network of nuclear receptors sensitive to 9- cis -retinoic acid at the base of metazoan evolution Novotný, Jan Philipp; Chughtai, Ahmed Ali; Kostrouchová, Markéta PeerJ, Vol. 5 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3789	journal	January 2017

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