Discovery of Earth’s Oldest Fossil Suggests Life Elsewhere in Our Solar System

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at University College London (ULC), made a startling discovery that is changing the way we look at the origins of life on Earth. Fossilized bacteria were found in rock features in northern Quebec, Canada, in an area known as Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt (NSB). These rocks contained bacterial microfossils that extend aft measured less than the width of a human hair. Fossils reside in quartz layers between rock formations along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. The discovery would never have been made without the effects of climate change.

The oldest sedimentary rock in the world can be found here.1 These fossilized bacteria are much older than those previously discovered, dating back to 3.77-4.28 million years ago. The Earth itself is 4.6 billion years old. Last August, fossilized bacteria found in rock samples in Greenland became the earliest known microfossils, located in 3.7 billion years. These two discoveries make life hundreds of millions of years older than previously thought.

Our world was hot and humid right now. The ocean had an average temperature of 140 ° F (60 ° C). Its bottom was marked with hydrothermal crevices, and it was among these that the first bacteria of life arose. Its structures are very similar, almost identical, to species still around today, clinging to underwater volcanic vents, according to Matthew Dodd.

He is a PhD student in biogeochemistry at ULC and a researcher in this study. "Our discovery supports the idea that life arose from hot seafloor vents shortly after planet Earth was formed," he said, but these findings could help support an opposing theory.

Inside the quartz, Dodd and his colleagues found microscopic fossils in tiny tubes and filaments, encapsulated within a type of rock called hematite. It is iron oxide, more commonly known as oxide. Their presence is explained by biological processes driven by bacteria. This species oxidizes iron for energy. Graphite, quartz and other minerals were also identified, indicating biological decomposition. The bacteria would have bloomed in this vent system. It was an iron-rich environment.

Similar findings in Norway, Western Australia and the Great Lakes are identical to these microfossils, adding to their legitimacy, according to Dr. Dominic Papineau. "The structures are composed of minerals that are expected to form from rot, and have been well documented along the geological record, from the beginning to today," he said. "The fact that you dug them up from one of the oldest rock formations known, suggests We have found direct evidence of one of the oldest forms of life on Earth."

But not everyone agrees. Martin J. Van Kranendonk of the University of New South Wales in Australia told Science Daily in an email, "I would say they are not fossils. Such formations may have been made through non-biological means." NASA geologist Abigail Allwood said that, despite ULC researchers making a good case, "it's an extraordinary statement to make and you need extraordinary proof." She admits that these could be microfossils. "I think the jury is still a bit off," he said.

Meanwhile, William Martin, who is the head of the Institute for Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, also doubts the claims of the study. He told CNN, "There is no clear evidence that these were made by biology. It is not enough that these things resemble cells." Genetic information is not yet present, but that will probably clear up the debate.

In addition to underwater, hydrothermal and ventilation bacteria, the other predominant theory of how life began on Earth is called panspermia. This suggests that an asteroid or meteorite hit the surface of our planet carrying biological material and sowing it. The reason this makes sense is that the time the bacteria would have lived was part of the "Late Heavy Bombardment," when comets, meteorites and asteroids struck planets in the solar system, including Mars and Earth. So maybe a meteorite with Mars biological material landed on Earth, or even planted one of these openings underwater.
R, through Wikimedia Commons British astronomer Sir Martin Rees believes that life could have evolved on both Earth and Mars simultaneously. According to Dodd, "these discoveries demonstrate the life developed on Earth at a time when Mars and Earth had liquid water on their surfaces, raising exciting questions for extraterrestrial life." The discovery, if sustained, can also have implications for life. Dodd said: "The process to start life
may not need a significant length of time or special chemistry, but could actually be a relatively simple process to get started.” According to Dr. Papineau, “This discovery helps us piece together the history of our planet and the remarkable life on it, and will help to identify traces of life elsewhere in the universe." He says such organisms could have easily developed in similar chemical environments where water and volcanic activity are present. This might mean that Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s Titan—each of which are thought to have hydrothermal vents under frozen seas, harbor life, and that Mars once did. "If it happened very quickly here, it could have happened elsewhere in the solar system," Papineau said.