Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life
Name
1-s2.0-S0891584918324973-main.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
780.03 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9d4fdb0402aed34307ae7885bd51e57b
Author(s)
Alleon, Julien
Summons, Roger E
Date Issued
2019
Journal
Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2019 The Authors Here we discuss the early geological record of preserved organic carbon and the criteria that must be applied to distinguish biological from non-biological origins. Sedimentary graphite, irrespective of its isotopic composition, does not constitute a reliable biosignature because the rocks in which it is found are generally metamorphosed to the point where convincing signs of life have been erased. Rather, multiple lines of evidence, including sedimentary textures, microfossils, large accumulations of organic matter and isotopic data for co-existing carbon, nitrogen and sulfur are required before biological origin can be convincingly demonstrated.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.03.005
