Variations in Neoarchean microbialite morphologies: clues to controls on microbialite morphologies through time

The Neoarchean Carawine Formation, Hamersley Group, Western Australia is a carbonate ramp that preserves diverse microbial structures which are characteristic of specific depositional environments. These distinctive structures are distributed in five shallow subtidal and two deeper‐water facies in the Oakover area of the Carawine Formation. The shallow subtidal facies are composed of biohermal and bedded stromatolites, centimetre‐scale ridge‐shaped microbialites and wavy‐laminated microbialites. The deeper‐water facies are composed of fenestrate microbialites, planar laminated dolostone and dolostone with rolled‐up microbial laminae. Microbialites in the Carawine Formation lie within a continuum of Archean to Proterozoic microbial facies. Some shallow‐water microbial facies in the Carawine Formation are similar to Proterozoic facies, such as large bioherms internally composed of a variety of stromatolite morphologies. In contrast, fenestrate microbialites grew in quiet subtidal environments and are common in Archean rocks but have not been documented in similar Proterozoic environments. The similarity of shallow‐water facies across the Archean–Proterozoic transition, before and after the oxidation of the atmosphere and surface oceans, indicates that stromatolite growth in shallow subtidal environments was not strongly affected by the chemical changes associated with oxidation of the oceans or by biological responses to those chemical changes. Rather, stromatolite morphology was controlled mostly by the physical environment and the corresponding biological responses to that environment. In contrast, the absence of fenestrate microbialites from Proterozoic deep subtidal environments suggests that the morphology of deep subtidal microbial structures was influenced by chemical or biological changes that occurred in association with oxidation of the surface oceans.     

Mass occurrence of benthic coccoid cyanobacteria and their role in the production of Neoarchean carbonates of South Africa

The sparse Archean fossil record is based almost entirely on carbonaceous remnants of microorganisms cellularly preserved due to their early post-mortem silicification. Hitherto as an exception, sedimentary carbonate rocks from the Neoarchean Nauga Formation of South Africa contain calcified microbial mats composed of microbiota closely resembling modern benthic colonial cyanobacteria (Chroococcales and Pleurocapsales). Their remains, visible under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) after etching of polished rock samples, comprise capsular envelopes, mucilage sheaths, and groups of cells mineralized by calcium carbonate with an admixture of Al–K–Mg–Fe silicates. The capsular organization of the mucilaginous sheaths surrounding individual cells and cell clusters forming colonies and the mode of mineralization are the characteristic common features of the Neoarchean microbiota described and their modern analogues. The new findings indicate massive production of calcium carbonates by benthic coccoid cyanobacteria in the Neoarchean, and offer a solution to the problem of the origin of Archean carbonate platforms, stromatolites and microbial reefs.     

叠层石中的海绿石化和黄铁矿化:以天津蓟县中元古界铁岭组为例*

作为微生物碳酸盐岩的主要类型之一,叠层石是微生物席的主要建造物已成为共识。天津蓟县中元古界铁岭组二段叠层石生物礁灰岩发育,其中的细粒叠层石被前人解释为微生物席捕获碳酸盐泥的微生物建造物,使得其既不同于现代叠层石,也不同于显生宙尤其是寒武纪的叠层石。更为特殊的是,这些叠层石中的海绿石和黄铁矿代表着2种特殊的矿化作用,其中研究区普遍产出的黄铁矿,作为硫酸盐还原细菌的产物,是了解古代微生物的窗口;而发育在高能浅海的海绿石,产出环境不同于现代海绿石,不能作为慢速沉积环境的指示矿物,亦不具有沉积间断的地质意义。2种矿化作用表明铁岭组叠层石是由沉淀作用而非捕获碳酸盐泥形成,这为了解中元古代叠层石的形成和特征提供了一些有益的线索。     

Organic matter heterogeneities in 2.72 Ga stromatolites: Alteration versus preservation by sulfur incorporation

The stromatolites of the weakly metamorphosed 2.72 Ga Tumbiana Formation present abundant organic globules that resemble in size, shape and distribution the microorganisms observed in modern stromatolites. In order to evaluate the significance of these cell-like organic materials, we characterized organic matter in-situ down to the nanoscale using a combination of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman microspectroscopy, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).These analyses revealed the occurrence of two distinct types of organic matter forming μm-scale textural and chemical heterogeneities distributed in distinct mineralogical laminae of the stromatolites. Type A organic matter, which is by far the most abundant, consists of sulfur-poor organic matter that is located in mud-type laminae at grain boundaries, mostly in association with silicate minerals. In contrast, Type B organic matter is rare and preserved as inclusions in the core of calcite grains forming laminates. It occurs as micrometer-sized cell-like globules containing variable amounts of organic sulfur likely in the form of thiophenes.Different scenarios may account for these compositional heterogeneities in the kerogen. Based on textural and compositional analogies with modern stromatolites, it is argued that Type B sulfur-rich globules may represent microbial cells protected by mineral encapsulation and selectively preserved through polymerization by early diagenetic sulfurization. In modern sediments, this reaction is fuelled by bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR). This metabolism has been widely considered as a major driver in modern stromatolites calcification and could thus have played an important role in the formation of the Tumbiana Formation stromatolites. In contrast, Type A sulfur-poor organic matter corresponds to either fossil extracellular polymer substances (EPS) or recondensed kerogen. This pool was likely not sulfurized due to either local and/or timely variations in the concentrations of H₂S or adverse pyritization driven by the availability of iron. Our observations thus show the need to use spatially-resolved techniques to complement organic geochemistry analyses and provide a detailed analysis of the organic carbon pools composing Archean stromatolites.     

Stromatolites in the Late Ordovician Eureka Quartzite: implications for microbial growth and preservation in siliciclastic settings

Well-preserved siliciclastic domal stromatolites, up to 2 m wide and 1·5 m high, are found in a 10 to 15 m thick interval within the Late Ordovician Eureka Quartzite of Southern Nevada and Eastern California, USA. These stromatolites appear as either isolated features or patchy clusters that contain more than 70% by volume quartz grains; their association with planar, trough and herringbone cross-bedding suggests that they were formed in an upper shoreface environment with high hydraulic energy. In this environment, sand bars or dunes may have provided localized shelter for initial microbial mat colonization. Biostabilization and early lithification of microbial mats effectively prevented erosion during tidal flushing and storm surges, and the prevalence of translucent quartz sand grains permitted light penetration into the sediment, leading to thick microbial mat accretion and the formation of domal stromatolites. Decimetre-scale to metre-scale stromatolite domes may have served as localized shelter and nucleation sites for further microbial mat colonization, forming patchy stromatolite clusters. Enrichment of iron minerals, including pyrite and hematite, within dark internal laminae of the stromatolites indicates anaerobic mineralization of microbial mats. The occurrence of stromatolites in the Eureka Quartzite provides an example of microbial growth in highly stressed, siliciclastic sedimentary environments, in which microbial communities may have been able to create microenvironments promoting early cementation/lithification essential for the growth and preservation of siliciclastic stromatolites.     

Mineral-microbe interactions: a review

The studies of mineral-microbe interactions lie at the heart of the emerging field of Geomicrobiology, as minerals and rocks are the most fundamental earth materials with which microbes interact at all scales. Microbes have been found in a number of the Earth’s extreme environments and beyond. In spite of the diverse geological environments in which microbes are found and diverse approaches taken to study them, a common thread, mineral-microbe interactions, connects all these environments and experimental approaches under the same umbrella, i.e., Geomicrobiology. Minerals and rocks provide microbes with nutrients and living habitats, and microbes impact rock and mineral weathering and diagenesis rates through their effects on mineral solubility and speciation. Given a rapid growth of research in this area in the last two decades, it is not possible to provide a comprehensive review on the topic. This review paper focuses on three area, i.e., microbial dissolution of minerals, microbial formation of minerals, and certain techniques to study mineral-microbe interactions. Under the first area, three subjects are reviewed; they include siderophores as important agents in promoting mineral dissolution, microbial oxidation of reduced minerals (acid mine drainage and microbial leaching of ores), and microbial reduction of oxidized minerals. Under the second topic, both biologically controlled and induced mineralizations are reviewed with a special focus on microbially induced mineralization (microbial surface mediated mineral precipitation and microbial precipitation of carbonates). Under the topic of characterization, the focus is on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy. It is the author’s hope that this review will promote more focused research on mineral-microbe interactions and encourage more collaboration between microbiologists and mineralogists.     

Famennian microbial reef facies, Napier and Oscar Ranges, Canning Basin, western Australia

Following the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction, which eliminated most skeletal reef-building fauna, the early Famennian reefs of the Canning Basin were constructed primarily by reef-framework microbial communities. In the Napier and Oscar Ranges, the Famennian reef complexes had high-energy, reef-flat depositional environments on a reef-rimmed platform that transitioned into low-energy, deep-water reefs growing in excess of 50 m below sea level. High-energy, reef-flat depositional environments contain doming fenestral stromatolites that grade into porous thrombolites and are associated with coarse-grained sandstones and grainstones. The reef-margin subfacies contains mounds of microdigitate thrombolites, which are more delicate than the reef-flat thrombolites and locally contain abundant red algae, Girvanella, renalcids and sediment-filled tubes. Within the thrombolites, the red algae are in upright growth positions, suggesting that the thrombolites are largely composed of carbonate that precipitated in situ. Reefal-slope environments are dominated by Wetheredella and Rothpletzella with locally abundant Girvanella, renalcids and Uralinella. In reefal-slope strata, delicate fans and microdigitate stromatolites of Wetheredella and Rothpletzella are often oriented horizontal or diagonal to bedding and are interpreted as syndepositionally toppled over. Most mesoscale microbial community structures contain several species of microbial fossils, and no single microbial species appears to have controlled the morphology of the community structure. Therefore, the depositional environment must have determined the distribution and morphology of the stromatolites, thrombolites and other microbial community structures. The adaptability of microbial communities to various reef environments allowed them to fill ecological niches opportunistically after the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction.     

海底热液活动区地微生物学研究中的分子生物学技术

海底热液活动区微生物生态及其相关研究一直是近年来海洋地微生物学研究的热点之一。有关发现不断挑战着人们对微生物的代谢机理、生存极限、元素地球化学循环作用等方面的传统认识。与传统的富集培养方法相比,主要基于16S rRNA基因和特征性功能基因系统的发育分析等技术为研究这一极端环境中栖息的微生物群落提供了更为系统和全面的手段。这些技术包括基因文库构建(16S rRNA和其它功能基因)、变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)、末端限制性片段长度多态性分析(T-RFLP)、荧光原位杂交(FISH)以及定量PCR等。目前,上述技术手段广泛应用于全球海底热液活动区地微生物学的研究,在丰富地球物种多样性、调查微生物参与的元素地球化学循环过程、研究微生物与矿物的相互作用以及生命起源与演化等方面取得了大量的研究成果。简要介绍了常规分子生物学技术的基本原理及其在海底热液活动区地微生物学研究中的应用现状。     

Biostratigraphic usefulness of stromatolitic precambrian microbiotas: A preliminary analysis

Diverse, cellularly preserved microbial communities are now known from stromatolitic sediments of at least twenty-eight Precambrian formations. These fossiliferous deposits, principally cherts and cherty portions of carbonate units, range in age from Early Proterozoic (Transvaal Dolomite, ca. 2250 Ma old) to Vendian (Chichkan Formation, ca. 650 Ma old) and include units from Australia, India, Canada, South Africa, Greenland, the United States and the Soviet Union. More than three-quarters of these microbiotas have been discovered since 1970. Although few, therefore, have as yet been studied in detail, virtually all of the assemblages are known to be dominated by prokaryotic (bacterial and blue-green algal) microorganisms and to contain three major categories of microfossils: spheroidal unicells, cylindrical tube-like sheaths, and cellular trichomic filaments. Analyses of data now available (including measurements of more than 7800 fossil unicells) indicate that each of these three types of microfossils exhibited a gradual, but marked, increase in mean diameter and size range during the Proterozoic and that taxonomic diversity apparently also increased, especially beginning about 1400 Ma ago. Thus, it now seems evident that (i) the microbial components of Proterozoic stomatolitic assemblages have varied systematically as a function of geologic age and that (ii) such communities are both more abundant and more widespread than had previously been recognized. These observations augur well for the future use of such assemblages in Precambrian biostratigraphy. At present, however, data are sufficient to warrant the provisional establishment of only a few microfossil-based subdivisions of the Proterozoic. Such zones, necessarily relatively long-ranging, are here tentatively defined; it is of interest to note that boundaries between certain of these microfossil-based subdivisions appear to coincide, at least approximately, with previously suggested stromatolite-based boundaries. To some extent, therefore, results of this study seem consistent with, and may be supportive of, the concept of stromatolite-based biostratigraphy. At the same time, however, the study seems to indicate that stromatolites of markedly differing age, whether of similar or of dissimilar morphology, were probably formed by distinctly differing microbiotas. Data are as yet insufficient to indicate whether differing types of coetaneous, stratigraphically useful, stromatolites were formed by differing microbial communities and two what extent the “evolution” of stromatolite morphology was a result of the biologic evolution of stromatolite-building microorganisms. There is thus continued need for investigation of the potential biostratigraphic usefulness of stromatolitic microbiotas and, especially, for more effective integration of results of such studies with those available from studies of stromatolites without preserved microbiotas and from studies of the acritarchs preserved in Proterozoic shales.     

微生物成因鲕粒研究进展

鲕粒岩在古气候、古环境,以及古海洋领域有着独特的研究价值,然而学术界对于鲕粒成因目前仍没有统一认识.近年来,随着鲕粒形成过程中微生物诱导矿化证据的不断丰富,广为接受的"无机成因"观点正不断受到挑战.本论文从历史和当前视角,回顾了从"藻类参与"到"细菌参与",以及现在"有机矿化过程"在微生物成因鲕粒研究方面的历程,对鲕粒...     

Intracellular and extracellular mineralization of a microbial community in the Edmond deep-sea vent field environment

Microbial biomineralization in submarine hydrothermal environments provides an insight into the formation of vent microfossils and the interactions between microbes, elements and minerals throughout the geological record. Here, we investigate microbial biomineralization of a deep-sea vent community in the Edmond vent field and provide ultrastructural evidence for the formation of microfossils and biogenic iron-rich minerals related to Archaea and Bacteria. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) analysis shows that filamentous and spiral microbes are encrusted by a non-crystalline silica matrix and minor amounts of iron oxides. Examination by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals acicular iron-rich particles and aggregates that occur either intracellularly or extracellularly. A culture-independent molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrates a diverse range of Bacteria and Archaea, the majority of which are related to sulfur metabolism in the microbial mats. Both Archaea and Bacteria have undergone silicification, in a similar manner to microorganisms in some terrestrial hot springs and indicating that silicification may be driven by silica supersaturation and polymerization. Formation mechanisms of intracellular and extracellular iron oxides associated with microbes are discussed. These results enhance our understanding of microbial mineralization in extreme environments, which may be widespread in the Earth's modern and ancient hydrothermal vent fields.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111001290

The Three Gorges Dam(TGD) of the Yangtze River.China,is one of the largest irrigation and hydroelectric engineering projects in the world.The effects of huge man-made projects like TGD on fauna and macrophyte are obvious,mainly through changes of water dynamics and flow pattern;however, it is less clear how microorganisms respond to such changes.This research was aimed to examine differences in microbial diversity at different seasons and locations(in front of and behind the TGD).In addition, differences between particle-attached and free-living communities were also examined.The community structures of total and potentially active microorganisms in the water columns behind and in front of the TGD were analyzed with the DNA- and RNA-based 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic approaches over three different seasons.Clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes were prepared after amplification from extracted DNA and.for some samples,after preparing cDNA from extracted rRNA.Differences were observed between sites at different seasons and between free-living and particle-attached communities.Both bacterial and archaeal communities were more diverse in summer than in winter, due to higher nutrient levels and warmer temperature in summer than in winter.Particle-attached microorganisms were more diverse than free-living communities,possibly because of higher nutrient levels and heterogeneous geochemical micro-environments in particles.Spatial variations in bacterial community structure were observed,i.e..the water reservoir behind the TGD(upstream) hosted more diverse bacterial populations than in front of the dam(downstream),because of diverse sources of sediments and waters from upstream to the reservoir.These results have important implications for our understanding of responses of microbial communities to environmental changes in river ecosystems affected by dam construction.     

Important Development and Significance of Modern Carbonate Stromatolites

Stromatolite, as the representative of recorder in the early life history of the Earth, has been traced back from 3.5 billion years to 3.7 billion years ago. Stromatolites do provide indirect evidence for the existence of early life on the Earth, especially the composition of modern carbonate stromatolites, which further proves that stromatolites are calcified structures of cyanobacterial mats. Among the modern carbonate stromatolites, the following examples have been studied for a long time: Coarse stromatolites on the platform of Bahamas, fine stromatolites in the ultra-salinity environment of Australia and ultra-salinity lagoon of southeastern Brazil. Based on the predecessors' research results, by tracing the growth mechanism of modern carbonate stromatolites and the complex microbial activities and deposition processes, the formation of stromatolites in the middle of the Zhangxia Formation of Cambrian in the Huolianzhai section of Benxi is obviously different from that of modern carbonate stromatolites, which indicates that the sedimentary model of modern stromatolites cannot be fully applied in the ancient stromatolites. Therefore, the comparison between modern carbonate stromatolites and ancient stromatolites provides a rich way to further understand the construction of Cambrian stromatolites and microbial carbonate factory.     

现代叠层石的多样化构成:认识古代叠层石形成的关键和窗口*

自从Kalkowsky在1908年构筑了叠层石的术语之后,叠层石一直是地质学家采用不同方法研究和思考的主题,而且一直被当作证明地球早期生命历史的代表物而得到深入调查。叠层石确实为地球早期生命历史提供了间接而且复杂的证据,所以,现代叠层石确实代表着明显的生物信号而成为研究的焦点。最为引人注目的是,现代叠层石的多样化构成,确实表明了蓝细菌生物席建造了叠层石,而且进一步表明了微生物席转化成叠层石不是一个直接的作用过程。那些反映现代叠层石多样化构成的典型实例包括:(1)南极Untersee地区的湖泊相锥状泥质叠层石;(2)新西兰North群岛被称为煎锅湖的热水湖泊中以及美国黄石国家公园热泉中的硅质叠层石;(3)巴哈马台地、澳大利亚鲨鱼湾以及巴西东南部海湾碳酸盐沉积物构成的叠层石。由于蓝细菌微生物席是否代表了古代叠层石的形态学前体总是存在争议,而且在生命的图像中叠层石一直是一个迷惑的关键片段,因此,现代叠层石的多样化构成,将成为认识古代叠层石形成的关键和窗口。立足于前人的研究成果,追踪和总结现代叠层石的多样化构成,以及它们所代表的沉积作用和微生物新陈代谢活动丰富而复杂的信息,将不但丰富微生物沉积学的研究内容,还将拓宽沉积相分析的基本内容,对深入了解叠层石复杂的沉积学特征和生物学属性具有重要的科学意义。     

Thrombolite fabrics and origins: Influences of diverse microbial and metazoan processes on Cambrian thrombolite variability in the Great Basin,California and Nevada

Thrombolites are a common component of carbonate buildups throughout the Phanerozoic. Although they are usually described as microbialites with an internally clotted texture, a wide range of thrombolite textures have been observed and attributed to diverse processes, leading to difficulty interpreting thrombolites as a group. Interpreting thrombolitic textures in terms of ancient ecosystems requires understanding of diverse processes, specifically those due to microbial growth and metazoan activity. Many of these processes are reflected in thrombolites in the Cambrian Carrara, Bonanza King, Highland Peak and Nopah formations, Great Basin, California, USA; they comprise eight thrombolite classes based on variable arrangements and combinations of depositional and diagenetic components. Four thrombolite classes (hemispherical microdigitate, bushy, coalescent columnar and massive fenestrated) contain distinct mesoscale microbial growth structures that can be distinguished from surrounding detrital sediments and diagenetic features. By contrast, mottled thrombolites have mesostructures that dominantly reflect post‐depositional processes, including bioturbation. Mottled thrombolites are not bioturbated stromatolites, but rather formed from disruption of an originally clotted growth structure. Three thrombolite classes (arborescent digitate, amoeboid and massive) contain more cryptic textures. All eight of the thrombolite classes in this study formed in similar Cambrian depositional environments (marine passive margin). Overall, this suite of thrombolites demonstrates that thrombolites are diverse, in both internal fabrics and origin, and that clotted and patchy microbialite fabrics form from a range of processes. The diversity of textures and their origins demonstrate that thrombolites should not be used to interpret a particular ecological, evolutionary or environmental shift without first identifying the microbial growth structure and distinguishing it from other depositional, post‐depositional and diagenetic components. Furthermore, thrombolites are fundamentally different from stromatolites and dendrolites in which the laminae and dendroids reflect a primary growth structure, because clotted textures in thrombolites do not always reflect a primary microbial growth structure.     

An assessment of changes in properties of steppe kurgan paleosoils in relation to prevailing climates over recent millennia

Comparative analysis of morphological and chemical properties of the soil chronosequence on Kastanozems soils in the steppe zone of the Russian Plain, which included paleosoils buried beneath kurgans erected ca. 2000 BC, AD 50, AD 200, and AD 1250 was performed to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions in this archeologically important region. Paleoenvironmental dynamics were traced using the state of microbial communities of paleo and modern soils (including the dynamics of total and glucose-reactive biomass, and the abundance of microorganisms grown on selected media). We demonstrate that the share of the glucose-reactive microorganisms in the microbial community, the ecological–trophic structure, and oligotrophicity index might serve as indicators of the state of microbial communities and be used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The morphological–chemical and microbial properties confirm an arid period ca. 2000 BC, slightly wetter conditions ca. AD 50, and more humid conditions ca. AD 1250.     

中国豫西寒武系馒头组叠层石的沉积特征及其古环境意义

中国豫西寒武系馒头组一、二段共出露9层叠层石,占寒武纪18层叠层石中的50%,且其特征明显、形态多样,可分为圆柱状、波状、半球状和围绕竹叶状砾屑灰岩生长的叠层石等4大类8小类。本文在逐层分析豫西寒武系馒头组一、二段叠层石相序特征的基础上,通过对不同类型叠层石的宏观、中观形态特征及伴生的其它沉积特征进行详细描述,并以巴哈马Highborne Cays现代海相叠层石的生长环境和前寒武纪叠层石的沉积环境等为佐证,建立了豫西寒武系馒头组8小类11种不同叠层石的沉积环境分布模式,其中潮上带以近水平状叠层石为主,少量为缓波状、小柱状和含水平状薄泥层的叠层石;潮间带上部以缓波状、小柱状和含水平状薄泥层的叠层石为主,少量锥柱状叠层石;潮间带中部以圆柱状叠层石为主,含扁平状核形石和竹叶状砾屑,少量为锥柱状和围绕竹叶状砾屑生长的叠层石;潮间带下部至潮下带以含圆形核形石的圆柱状和半球状叠层石为主,少量含核形石的倒锥状叠层石。海平面的变化即水动力条件是叠层石生长类型变化的决定因素。     

Do Archean chemical sediments record ancient seawater rare earth element patterns?

Rare earth elements (REE) concentrations of Archean and Proterozoic chemical sediments are commonly used as proxies to study secular trends in the geochemistry of Precambrian seawater. In addition, similarities in the REE signatures of Archean chemical sediments and modern seawater have led researchers to argue that some Archean rocks originated as biochemical precipitates (i.e., microbial carbonates) in shallow marine (e.g., peritidal) environments. However, terrestrial waters, including river water and groundwater, also commonly exhibit REE fractionation patterns that resemble modern seawater. Here, we present the seawater-like REE data for groundwaters from central México as additional evidence that these patterns are not unique to the marine environment. The shale-normalized REE patterns of the groundwaters are compared to those of modern seawater (open ocean and nearshore), Holocene reefal microbial carbonates and corals, and Archean chemical sediments using statistical means (i.e., ANOVA and Wilcoxon analyses) in order to quantify the similarities and/or differences in the REE patterns. Shale-normalized (SN) Ce anomalies and measures of REE fractionation [i.e., (La/Yb)_SN, (Pr/Yb)_SN, (Nd/Yb)_SN, and (Gd/Yb)_SN] of the central México groundwater samples are statistically indistinguishable from those of modern seawater. Moreover, except for differences in the Ce anomalies, which are lacking in Archean chemical sediments, the REE patterns of the central México groundwaters are also statistically similar to REE patterns of Archean chemical sediments, especially those of the 3.45 Ga Strelley Pool Chert. Consequently, we suggest that without additional information, it may be premature to unequivocally conclude that Archean chemical sediments record REE signatures of an Archean ocean.     

Microbially induced sedimentary structures in Archean sandstones: A new window into early life

Until now, the most valuable information on the early life on the Archean Earth derived from bacterial fossils and stromatolites preserved in precipitated lithologies such as chert or carbonates. Also, shales contain complex biomarker molecules, and specific isotopes constitute an important evidence for biogeneicity.In contrast, because of their low potential of fossil preservation, sandstones have been less investigated. But recent studies revealed a variety of ‘microbially induced sedimentary structures — MISS’ that differ greatly from any other fossils or sedimentary structures. ‘Wrinkle structures’, ‘multidirected ripple marks’, ‘biolaminites’, and other macrostructures indicate the former presence of photoautotrophic microbial mats in shallow-marine to tidal paleoenvironments. The MISS form by the mechanical interaction of microbial mats with physical sediment dynamics that is the erosion and deposition by water agitation. The structures occur not only in Archean tidal flats, but in equivalent settings throughout Earth history until today.MISS are not identified alone by their macroscopic morphologies. In thin-sections, the structures display the carpet-like fabrics of intertwined filaments of the ancient mat-constructing microorganisms. Geochemical analyses of the filaments proof their composition of iron minerals associated with organic carbon.In conclusion, microbial mats colonize sandy tidal settings at least for 3.2 Ga years. Therefore, Archean sandstones constitute an important archive for the exploration of early life.     

The Characteristic of Deep Sea Hydrothermal Ecosystem and Their Impact on the Extreme Microorganism

Deep-sea is one of the most important extreme environments on the earth. Numerous and diverse extremophiles thrive in this extreme environment, presenting distinctive physiological structure, metabolic mechanism and symbiosis relations, which provide new methods to study the origin of life and extraterrestrial life. Despite extensive studies on deep-sea extremophiles from the point of view of biology, the impacts of deep-sea hydrothermal activity on the evolution of extremophiles remain largely unknown. On the basis of summarizing features of the deep-sea ziphysicochemical and geological environment, the distribution and formation mechanism of submarine hydrothermal vents were analyzed, respectively. Hydrothermal vents have great effect on the distribution and succession of communities. Our discussion focused on the extreme life forms of microorganisms surviving in the hydrothermal ecosystem and their important significance for the nutrient cycling and ecosystem evolution. However, the research of life processes in extreme environments is still in the primary stage and more work is needed on the in-situ detection technique, molecular biology and interdisciplinary research.