Earth has been habitable for 4.3 billion years, and the earliest rock record indicates the
presence of a microbial biosphere by at least 3.4 billion years ago—and disputably earlier …

Abstract The Archean era (4 to 2.5 billion years ago, Ga) yielded rocks that include the
oldest conclusive traces of life as well as many controversial occurrences. Carbonaceous …

Abstract The ca. 3.48 Ga Dresser Formation, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, is well
known for hosting some of Earth's earliest convincing evidence of life (stromatolites …

Analyses by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) of 11 specimens of five taxa of
prokaryotic filamentous kerogenous cellular microfossils permineralized in a petrographic …

Stromatolites of the∼ 3.5 billion-year-old Dresser Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western
Australia) are considered to be some of Earth's earliest convincing evidence of life …

The recognition of past habitable environments on Mars has increased the urgency to
understand biosignature preservation in and characterize analogues of these environments …

For decades, deep sea hydrothermal vents have been a preferred setting for the Origin of
Life, but “The Water Problem” as relates to polymerization of organic molecules, together …

Carbon is the key element of life, and its origin in ancient sedimentary rocks is central to
questions about the emergence and early evolution of life. The oldest well-preserved carbon …

It is widely hypothesised that primeval life utilised small organic molecules as sources of
carbon and energy. However, the presence of such primordial ingredients in early Earth …

Archaean hydrothermal chert veins commonly contain abundant organic carbon of uncertain
origin (abiotic vs. biotic). In this study, we analysed kerogen contained in a hydrothermal …