Reply to the comments of D.L. Pinti,R. Mineau and V. Clement,and of A.O. Marshall and C.P. Marshall on “Biogenicity of Earth's earliest fossils: A resolution of the controversy” by J. William Schopf and Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev,Gondwana Research 22 (2012), 761-771

The abundant and diverse assemblage of filamentous microbial fossils permineralized in the ~ 3465 Ma Apex chert of northwestern Australia — among the oldest records of life — are arguably the “best studied,” by the most workers using the most advanced techniques, in the history of science. Despite the extensive body of data establishing the biogenicity of the demonstrably cellular carbonaceous Apex fossils, Pinti et al. (2013) and Marshall and Marshall (2013) have raised issues regarding the interpretation of their studies of the Apex chert presented in our recent review article (Schopf and Kudryavtsev, 2012). We agree with the assessment of both of the relevant papers by Pinti et al. (2009, 2013): the observations they report do not apply to the bona fide microscopic fossils of the Apex chert. Similarly, like the minute objects reported by Pinti et al. (2009, 2013), the “quartz and haematite-filled fractures” discussed by Marshall and Marshall (2013) are mineralic pseudofossils that are not relevant to interpretation of the Apex fossil microbes and their suggestion that “multiple populations of carbonaceous material may be a wide-spread issue through out the Precambrian” is without merit.     

Article by G.S. Kurochkin and A.M. Fedorov, “Massifs of mineralized serpentines and pyroxenites in Mansk Belogor'ye,East Sayans”

The authors by their own statement do not intend to make a general criticism of the work but which only to point out these specific errors: 1) There is no justification in assigning all the massifs to the junction zone of East and West Sayans. It is incomprehensible to include such dissimilar massifs as the gabbros of Kazyr and the granitic Kryzhin range, both because of age and form; 2) There are no chromite deposits in the West Sayans; 3) The use of an effusive-schist formation in the Upper Proterozoic is incorrect; it should read series; 4) What do Ordovician faults have to do with the Lysansk massifs? 5) There are serious errors and omissions in the petrography of the Lysansk complex, on which the authors elaborate; 6) The TiO₂ deposits in gabbros were discovered not in 1956, as claimed, but in 1954 by two other geologists; 7) The sequence of the emergence of secondary minerals from a magmatic melt “can only be visualized;” 8) They object to “superimposing” an autometamorphic phase on the mineralization; 9) They object to the concepts of the origin of Lysansk intrusions, as being “in the dogmatic form of an article of faith.” — M.A. Klugman     

Raw mix designing, clinkerization and manufacturing of high-strength Portland cement from the limestone and clay of Darukhula Nizampur, Nowshera District, North-West Frontier Province （N.W.F.P.）, Pakistan

This paper covers the detailed version of the potential raw material deposits at Darukhula and the adjacent areas of Nizampur, the manufacturing of high-strength Portland cement samples from the same material and comparison of the physical and chemical parameters for resulting cement with British and Pakistan standard specifications, which include compressive strength, setting time, consistency, lechatelier expansion, Blaine and insoluble residue. It was found that the raw material available in the study area meets the standard specifications and the area is feasible for the cement plant installation. The area can provide raw material which is quite sufficient for the running of a cement plant.