Millions of Boreal Shield Lakes can be used to Probe Archaean Ocean Biogeochemistry.

ABSTRACT: Life originated in Archaean oceans, almost 4 billion years ago, in the absence of oxygen and the presence of high dissolved iron concentrations. Early Earth oxidation is marked globally by extensive banded iron formations but the contributing processes and timing remain controversial. Very few aquatic habitats have been discovered that match key physico-chemical parameters of the early Archaean Ocean. All previous whole ecosystem Archaean analogue studies have been confined to rare, low sulfur, and permanently stratified lakes. Here we provide first evidence that millions of Boreal Shield lakes with natural anoxia offer the opportunity to constrain biogeochemical and microbiological aspects of early Archaean life. Specifically, we combined novel isotopic signatures and nucleic acid sequenc

SUBMITTER: Schiff SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5406836 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature