Late Archean rise of aerobic microbial ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: We report the (13)C content of preserved organic carbon for a 150 million-year section of late Archean shallow and deepwater sediments of the Hamersley Province in Western Australia. We find a (13)C enrichment of approximately 10 per thousand in organic carbon of post-2.7-billion-year-old shallow-water carbonate rocks relative to deepwater sediments. The shallow-water organic-carbon (13)C content has a 29 per thousand range in values (-57 to -28 per thousand), and it contrasts with the less variable but strongly (13)C-depleted (-40 to -45 per thousand) organic carbon in deepwater sediments. The (13)C enrichment likely represents microbial habitats not as strongly influenced by assimilation of methane or other (13)C-depleted substrates. We propose that continued oxidation of shallow setting

SUBMITTER: Eigenbrode JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1635076 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature