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Archean Traces of Life

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Synonyms

Archean biosignatures; Trace of life

Definition

The Archean is the period of geological time between 3.8 and 2.5 billion years ago when life is thought to have emerged on Earth. Traces of Archean life are preserved in rare, fragmentary, and often highly altered rock sequences. Morphological evidence for Archean life is provided by microfossils, microborings, stromatolites, and wrinkle mats. Chemical evidence for life is recorded by stable isotope ratios of C and S especially. These different biosignatures are yet to provide a consistent and complete picture of early Archean ecosystems, and there is currently little scientific consensus about when and where life first emerged on Earth. Refining our understanding of microbial biosignatures in the Archean rock record is essential to designing strategies for seeking life elsewhere in our universe and for ratifying this evidence.

Overview

This entry first explains where to look for Archean traces of life, whatevidence...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science and Centre for Geobiology, University of Bergen, Room 3118A Realfagbygget, Allegaten 41, Bergen, N-5007, Norway

    Nicola McLoughlin

Authors
  1. Nicola McLoughlin
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Correspondence to Nicola McLoughlin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS-Universite de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Floirac, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    William M. Irvine

  3. Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  4. Earth–Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro–ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  5. GEOTOP Research Center for Geochemistry and Geodynamics, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Daniele L. Pinti

  6. Department of Astrophysics, Laboratory of Molecular Astrophysics, Iorrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  7. LESIA, Observatoire Paris-Site de Meudon, Meudon, France

    Daniel Rouan

  8. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung, Berlin, Germany

    Tilman Spohn

  9. Centre François Viéte d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques EA 1161, Faculté des Sciences et des, Techniques de Nantes, Nantes, France

    Stéphane Tirard

  10. CNES/DSP/SME, Vétérinaire/DVM, Astro/Exobiology, Paris Cedex 1, France

    Michel Viso

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McLoughlin, N. (2015). Archean Traces of Life. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_101

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