Self-assembled silica-carbonate structures and detection of ancient microfossils.

نویسندگان

  • J M García-Ruiz
  • S T Hyde
  • A M Carnerup
  • A G Christy
  • M J Van Kranendonk
  • N J Welham
چکیده

We have synthesized inorganic micron-sized filaments, whose microstucture consists of silica-coated nanometer-sized carbonate crystals, arranged with strong orientational order. They exhibit noncrystallographic, curved, helical morphologies, reminiscent of biological forms. The filaments are similar to supposed cyanobacterial microfossils from the Precambrian Warrawoona chert formation in Western Australia, reputed to be the oldest terrestrial microfossils. Simple organic hydrocarbons, whose sources may also be abiotic and indeed inorganic, readily condense onto these filaments and subsequently polymerize under gentle heating to yield kerogenous products. Our results demonstrate that abiotic and morphologically complex microstructures that are identical to currently accepted biogenic materials can be synthesized inorganically.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Biomimetic mineral self-organization from silica-rich spring waters

Purely inorganic reactions of silica, metal carbonates, and metal hydroxides can produce self-organized complex structures that mimic the texture of biominerals, the morphology of primitive organisms, and that catalyze prebiotic reactions. To date, these fascinating structures have only been synthesized using model solutions. We report that mineral self-assembly can be also obtained from natura...

متن کامل

Functionalisation of silica–carbonate biomorphs†

Biomorphs are a unique class of self-organised silica–carbonate mineral structures with elaborate shapes. Here we report first approaches to modify these complex inorganic architectures through silane chemistry, binding of nanoparticles, and organic polymerisation. This leads to functional nanostructures in which the complexity of the originally inorganic template is preserved, and offers new d...

متن کامل

Aminothiophenol Furfural Self-assembled Gold Electrode Sensor for Determination of Dopamine in Pharmaceutical Formulations

A new Schiff base 2-aminothiophenol furfural self assembled monolayer (SAM) has been fabricated on a bare gold electrode as a novel sensor for determination of dopamine. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopywas utilized to investigate the properties of the Au 2-aminothiophenol furfural self assembled monolayermodified electrode (Au ATF SAM-ME) using the [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- redox couple. The electro...

متن کامل

کانی‌شناسی، زمین شیمی، موقعیت ساختمانی و ارایه مدل ژنتیکی برای لیستونیت‌های خاور ایران

On the basis of mineralogy and geochemistry analysis, the listvenites in east of Iran are divided into three main carbonate, silica-carbonate and silica groups. Magnesite, dolomite, huntite and hydromagnesite are the major minerals in carbonate type. Silica listvenites contain mainly quartz, chalcedony and opal. Silica - carbonate listvenites contain minerals of carbonate and silica listvenites...

متن کامل

Silica Biomineralization of Calothrix-Dominated Biofacies from Queen's Laundry Hot-Spring, Yellowstone National Park, USA

Experiments on microorganisms capable of surviving silicification are often conducted to gain a better understanding of the process of silica biomineralization and to gain insights into microbially influenced rock formations and biofabrics like those found in ancient deposits such as the Early Archean Apex Chert formation (Schopf, 1993; House et al., 2000). An ideal microorganism for studying s...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Science

دوره 302 5648  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2003