Early Life Thrived in Lava Flows
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Bacterial
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3648283.stm
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff
Burrow, Science
The microbes broke down volcanic glass to extract nutrients
Geologists have discovered microscopic burrows where some of Earth's earliest life forms bored their way into volcanic glass 3.5 billion years ago.
The tubes, from rocks in South Africa's Barberton Greenstone Belt, retain traces of organic carbon left behind by the microorganisms, the authors say.
The microbes etched their way into rocks that formed as lava oozed out across a sea floor in Archaean times.
An international team published details of the work in the journal, Science.
Harald Furnes of the University of Bergen, Norway, and his colleagues found tubular structures in the glassy rind on so-called pillow lavas.
The volcanic rock itself has very little carbon. It's concentrated in these little specks inside the tubules due to life processes
Researchers have previously identified similar structures called microtubules in present day pillow lavas, where they were interpreted as the trails left by rock-munching microorganisms.
Modern examples have been shown to contain nucleic acids and increased traces of carbon and nitrogen, the key elements of life.
The team found ancient microtubules in the Barberton rock which are on average about four micrometres in width and 50 micrometres in length.
In the inner walls of these microtubules, the geologists found traces of carbon, which the authors claim is organic.
(Much more at site)
(Thanks to the Forteana list!)
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff
Burrow, Science
The microbes broke down volcanic glass to extract nutrients
Geologists have discovered microscopic burrows where some of Earth's earliest life forms bored their way into volcanic glass 3.5 billion years ago.
The tubes, from rocks in South Africa's Barberton Greenstone Belt, retain traces of organic carbon left behind by the microorganisms, the authors say.
The microbes etched their way into rocks that formed as lava oozed out across a sea floor in Archaean times.
An international team published details of the work in the journal, Science.
Harald Furnes of the University of Bergen, Norway, and his colleagues found tubular structures in the glassy rind on so-called pillow lavas.
The volcanic rock itself has very little carbon. It's concentrated in these little specks inside the tubules due to life processes
Researchers have previously identified similar structures called microtubules in present day pillow lavas, where they were interpreted as the trails left by rock-munching microorganisms.
Modern examples have been shown to contain nucleic acids and increased traces of carbon and nitrogen, the key elements of life.
The team found ancient microtubules in the Barberton rock which are on average about four micrometres in width and 50 micrometres in length.
In the inner walls of these microtubules, the geologists found traces of carbon, which the authors claim is organic.
(Much more at site)
(Thanks to the Forteana list!)
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