Little is known about the evolutionary origins of metabolism. However, key biochemical reactions of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), ancient metabolic pathways central to the metabolic network, have non-enzymatic pendants that occur in a prebiotically plausible reaction milieu reconstituted to contain Archean sediment metal components. These non-enzymatic reactions could have...

s. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72(12S). Morris, R.C. (1993) Genetic modeling for banded iron-formation of the Hamersley Group, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. Precambrian Res. 60:243–286. Ohmoto, H. (2004) Archean atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. In The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events, Vol. 12, edited by P.G. Erickson, W. Alterman, D.R. Nelson, W.U. Mueller, and O. Catuneanu, Elsevi...

The origin of life is still an unsolved mystery in science. Hypothetically, prebiotic chemistry and the formation of protocells may have evolved in the hydrothermal environment of tectonic fault zones in the upper continental crust, an environment where sensitive molecules are protected against degradation induced e.g. by UV radiation. The composition of fluid inclusions in minerals such as qua...

systematics of the ultra-high temperature Napier Complex, East Antarctica: Evidence for the early Archean differentiation of Earth's mantle" (2007). Related Publications from ANDRILL Affiliates. Paper 15. Figure 1. Outcrop map of the western Napier Complex, East Antarctica. Areas of outcrop are indicated in black. The approximate extent of UHT mineral assemblages (UHT-zone) is indicated by the ...

Geological records of atmospheric oxygen suggest that pO2 was less than 0.001% of present atmospheric levels (PAL) during the Archean, increasing abruptly to a Proterozoic value between 0.1% and 10% PAL, and rising quickly to modern levels in the Phanerozoic. Using a simple model of the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, sulfur, hydrogen, iron, and phosphorous, we demonstrate that there a...

Two well preserved Archean cratons, Kaapvaal and Pilbara, have remarkably similar geological successions during the Archean and Paleoproterozoic. This has led some to propose that the two may have been connected during that interval, thus experiencing similar tectonic events. We sampled Archean and Proterozoic rocks from the Pilbara craton in order to test the Vaalbara hypothesis, especially th...

The eukaryotic cell appeared 2.7 Ga or earlier as a result of coevolution of prokaryotic components of Archean microbial communities. The crisis events at the Archean–Proterozoic boundary, which partially destroyed the Archean prokaryotic biota, may have played an important role in the development of the first eukaryotes. The separation of the nucleus from the cytosol and the presence of hetero...

Lithological, structural, metamorphic and geochronological data for the North China Craton enable its division into the Western and Eastern Blocks of Archean to Paleoproterozoic age separated by a north–south trending Paleoproterozoic orogenic belt: the Central Zone. The Central Zone is divisible into a series of lowto medium-grade granite–greenstone belts and high-grade metamorphic terrains co...

Dr. Frances Westall (FW): Let’s begin with each of you giving an overview as to the importance of biogenic processes in the rise of oxygen—oxygenic photosynthesis. Lee, would you like to begin? Dr. Lee Kump (LK): What is really interesting about the history of atmospheric oxygenation is that there is this event or interval of change from an anoxic Archean atmosphere to an oxygenated post-Archea...

biogenic platform carbonates [4]. By c.2.45 Ga oxygen levels had begun to rise in the Earth’s atmosphere setting the stage for the evolution of the modern biosphere. Here we focus on concretionary structures, which can act as sensitive barometers of biological activity, to provide us with potential insights into the expansion of this early biosphere prior to the first appearance of oxygen in th...