Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life
© 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...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135118 |
| _version_ | 1811092823512973312 |
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| author | Alleon, Julien Summons, Roger E |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Alleon, Julien Summons, Roger E |
| author_sort | Alleon, Julien |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:28:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/135118 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:28:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1351182023-11-14T19:56:27Z Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life Alleon, Julien Summons, Roger E Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences © 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. 2021-10-27T20:10:49Z 2021-10-27T20:10:49Z 2019 2019-06-10T14:02:45Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135118 en 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.03.005 Free Radical Biology and Medicine Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV Elsevier |
| spellingShingle | Alleon, Julien Summons, Roger E Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title | Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title_full | Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title_fullStr | Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title_full_unstemmed | Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title_short | Organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| title_sort | organic geochemical approaches to understanding early life |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135118 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alleonjulien organicgeochemicalapproachestounderstandingearlylife AT summonsrogere organicgeochemicalapproachestounderstandingearlylife |