life on earth may date back 395 bn years study
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

by comets and had hardly any oxygen

Life on Earth may date back 3.95 bn years: study

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Life on Earth may date back 3.95 bn years: study

Fossil evidence for early organisms on Earth is scarce
Paris - Arab Today

Rudimentary life may have existed on Earth 3.95 billion years ago, a time when our infant planet was being bombarded by comets and had hardly any oxygen, researchers said Wednesday.

A team presented what they say is the oldest-known fossil evidence for life on the Blue Planet -- grains of graphite, a form of carbon, wedged into ancient sedimentary rocks in Labrador, Canada.

The previous most ancient life traces were reported in March, from a site in Quebec estimated at between 3.8 billion and 4.3 billion years old, though an author of the new study called that dating process "highly controversial."

"This is the oldest evidence," Tsuyoshi Komiya of The University of Tokyo insisted in an email exchange with AFP.

"Our samples are also the oldest supracrustal rocks preserved on Earth" -- a type similar to the formation which contained the Quebec samples.

Fossil evidence for early organisms is scarce, and rocks that remain from that period are often poorly preserved.

A key difficulty for scientists on a quest to find the oldest life on Earth is proving that organic remains were produced by living organisms rather than geological processes.

This field of study is aimed not only at pinpointing the start of life on our planet, but also to shed light on the possibility of life having existed -- or still existing -- on other planets such as Mars.

For the new study, Komiya and a team studied graphite, a form of carbon used in pencil lead, in rocks at Saglek Block in Labrador, Canada.

They measured its isotope composition, the signature of chemical elements, and concluded the graphite was "biogenic" -- meaning it was produced by living organisms.

The identity of the organisms, or what they looked like, remains a mystery.

"We will analyse other isotopes such as nitrogen, sulphur and iron of the organic matter and accompanied minerals to identify the kinds of organisms," said Komiya of the next step.

"In addition, we can estimate the environment" in which the organisms lived by analysing the chemical composition of the rock itself.

If the findings are accurate, it means life took hold on Earth just a geological second after its formation some 4.5 billion years ago.

Before the Quebec fossils, which were also described in Nature, the oldest traces of life were found in Greenland's ice cap and dated to 3.7 billion years ago.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

life on earth may date back 395 bn years study life on earth may date back 395 bn years study

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

life on earth may date back 395 bn years study life on earth may date back 395 bn years study

 



GMT 12:47 2016 Thursday ,01 September

'La La Land' musical masterpiece dazzles Venice film fest

GMT 12:42 2017 Monday ,20 February

Dalia al-Behairy begins 'Yawmiyat Zoga Mafrosa'

GMT 19:01 2017 Wednesday ,30 August

Oil prices down as US reels from Harvey

GMT 04:19 2017 Monday ,08 May

National forces attack mercenaries in Taiz

GMT 19:21 2017 Sunday ,07 May

Iranian Film Week opens in Baghdad

GMT 21:33 2017 Sunday ,30 July

Arab Quartet meeting kicks off in Bahrain

GMT 17:17 2016 Friday ,07 October

Aleppo bleeds as US and Russia spar

GMT 12:03 2015 Monday ,21 December

Nepal protester killed in constitutional crisis clash

GMT 09:47 2016 Thursday ,22 December

Trump vows to cut F-35 spending, as leaked memo

GMT 21:44 2017 Friday ,15 December

King establishes Hawar Development Committee

GMT 20:57 2017 Tuesday ,16 May

Naval Forces rescue 23 tourists in Hurghada

GMT 12:56 2017 Monday ,11 December

Lyon leave it late, Balotelli with Nice winner

GMT 06:18 2017 Thursday ,19 October

Russian delegation meets with Julphar chairman

GMT 21:20 2017 Monday ,23 October

Nasr, delegation of London Stock Exchange

GMT 14:40 2012 Saturday ,10 March

Magdy Al-Galad steps down

GMT 09:47 2017 Sunday ,12 March

Cat Camp in New York attracts cat lovers

GMT 14:57 2016 Friday ,09 September

Madonna, Ritchie settle child custody dispute

GMT 23:52 2017 Monday ,18 September

UAE economic growth boosting logistics sector
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday