Quick
Search: 
 
advanced search
 GSW Home    GeoRef Home    My GSW Alerts    Contact GSW    About GSW    Journals List    Help 
Geology Email Content Delivery
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

Geology; June 2007; v. 35; no. 6; p. 487-490; DOI: 10.1130/G23534A.1
© 2007 Geological Society of America
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Banerjee, N. R.
Right arrow Articles by Van Kranendonk, M. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

Direct dating of Archean microbial ichnofossils

Neil R. Banerjee*,1, Antonio Simonetti2, Harald Furnes3, Karlis Muehlenbachs4, Hubert Staudigel5, Larry Heaman6 and Martin J. Van Kranendonk7

1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
2 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
3 Centre for Geobiology and Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
4 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
5 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, California 92093-0225, USA
6 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
7 Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia

Well-preserved Archean pillow lavas from the ca. 3.35 Ga Euro Basalt of the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, contain micron-sized tubular structures mineralized by titanite (CaTiSiO4) with residual organic carbon preserved along their margins. Direct U-Pb dating of titanite in the tubular structures demonstrates an Archean age. These tubular microstructures are identical to microbial ichnofossils in modern basalts, ophiolites, and greenstone belts, and are interpreted as a biogenic signature in these ancient rocks. Microbial colonization of basaltic glass thus appears to have been part of a deep subsurface biosphere established early in Earth's history.

Key Words: early life • greenstone belt • Pilbara Craton • geochronology • ichnofossil • astrobiology







JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by Geological Society of America