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Pruebas de vida temprana en los precipitados hidrotermales más antiguos de la Tierra
Matthew S Dodd1,2, Dominic Papineau1,2, Tor Grenne3
1London Centre for Nanotechnology, 17-19 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK.
Nature
|March 3, 2017
Resumen
Se han descubierto en Quebec evidencias de vida microbiana antigua, de unos 4.200 millones de años.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Geología
- Paleontología
- Astrobiología
Sus antecedentes:
- Los respiraderos hidrotermales submarinos se consideran hábitats tempranos potenciales para la vida en la Tierra.
- El cinturón de Nuvvuagittuq en Quebec, Canadá, contiene antiguas rocas sedimentarias ferruginosas.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para investigar supuestos microorganismos fosilizados en antiguas rocas del cinturón Nuvvuagittuq.
- Para determinar la edad y el origen de las microestructuras encontradas en estas rocas.
Principales métodos:
- Análisis de las rocas sedimentarias ferruginosas en busca de pruebas microfósiles.
- Comparación morfológica y mineralógica con los microorganismos modernos de los respiraderos hidrotermales.
- Análisis isotópico del carbono en las muestras de roca.
Principales resultados:
- Descubrimiento de tubos y filamentos de hematita a escala micrométrica, fechados entre 3.77 y 4.28 mil millones de años.
- Estas estructuras exhiben morfologías y ensamblajes minerales similares a los microorganismos de ventilación hidrotermal modernos.
- Carbono isotópicamente ligero encontrado en asociación con los microfósiles putativos, indicativo de actividad biológica.
Conclusiones:
- Los hallazgos proporcionan evidencia de actividad biológica en entornos hidrotermales submarinos hace más de 3.770 millones de años.
- Las microestructuras descubiertas son consistentes con la biomasa oxidada de la vida microbiana antigua.
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