Early Life on Earth.ppt

Early Life on Earth * Overview If you were able to travel back to visit the Earth during the Archaean Eon (3.8 to 2.5 bya), you would likely not recognize it The atmosphere was very different from what we breathe today; a reducing atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and other gases which would be toxic to most life on our planet today. Also during this time, the Earths crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to form. It was early in the Archaean Eon that life first appeared on Earth. Our oldest fossils date to roughly 3.8 billion years ago, and consisted of bacteria microfossils. Earth’s Oldest Rocks Rocks older than 3.5 billion years are very rare on Earth Indeed, there may have been only tiny patches of continental crust on the early Earth; over 90% of the crust would have been oceanic rock The oldest rocks on Earth are from northern Canada; they are 3.9 billion years old and There are also some very old rocks in the Isua area of west Greenland, dating at approximately 3.85 bya Rocks from both sites contain no evidence of life. Major areas of exposed Precambrian rock Carbon isotope evidence at 3.8 bya from Isua, Greenland The Isua rocks do, however, contain quite a lot of carbon in the form of the mineral graphite (a type of elemental carbon). The carbon at Isua is in the form of “light” graphite; as if it had been produced by RUBSICO via photosynthesis It is indirect evidence that there may have been life on earth before 3.85 bya The Oldest Rocks with Life Although there is some indirect evidence that there may have been life on Earth before 3.85 bya, there is clearer isotopic evidence for biological carbon life at about 3.5 bya; the first fossils are from these rocks Archaen districts in both Australia and Africa provide evidence of stromatolites - low mounds or domes of finely laminated sediment composed of either calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or chert (SiO2). Represent fossilized microbial mats formed mainly by photosyntheti