Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review Article
  • Published:

A 3,800-million-year isotopic record of life from carbon in sedimentary rocks

Nature volume 333, pages 313–318 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

An increased ratio of 12C to 13C, an indicator of the principal carbon-fixing reaction of photosynthesis, is found in sedimentary organic matter dating back to almost four thousand million years ago—a sign of prolific microbial life not long after the Earth's formation. Partial biological control of the terrestrial carbon cycle must have been established very early and was in full operation when the oldest sediments were formed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nier, A. O. & Gulbransen, E. A. J. Am. chem. Soc. 61, 697–698 (1939).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Murphey, B. F. & Nier, A. O. Phys. Rev. 59, 771–772 (1941).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rankama, K. J. Geol. 56, 199–209 (1948).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wickmann, F. E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 2, 243–254 (1952).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Craig, H. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 3, 53–92 (1953).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Park, R. & Epstein, S. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 21, 110–126 (1960).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Junge, C. E., Schidlowski, M., Eichmann, R. & Pietrek, H. J. geophys. Res. 80, 4542–4552 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Schidlowski, M., Appel, P. W. U., Eichmann, R. & Junge, C. E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 43, 189–199 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Schidlowski, M. in Cosmochemistry and the Origin of Life (ed. Ponnamperuma, C.) 277–322 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1983).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Schidlowski, M., Hayes, J. M. & Kaplan, I. R. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 149–186 (Princeton University Press, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Schidlowski, M. Adv. Space Res. 4(12), 183–193 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Schidlowski, M. A. Rev. Earth planet. Sci. 15, 47–72 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Vogel, J. C. Sitzungsber. Heidelb. Akad. Wiss. Math. Naturwiss. Kl 3, 111–135 (1980).

    Google Scholar 

  14. O'Leary, M. H. Phytochemistry 20, 553–567 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Galimov, E. M. The Biological Fractionation of Isotopes (Academic, Orlando, Florida, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Walker, D. Energy, Plants and Man (Packard, Chichester, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Reibach, P. H. & Benedict, C. R. Pl. Physiol. 59, 564–568 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Schmidt, H. L., Winkler, F. J., Latzko, E. & Wirth, E. Israel J. Chem. 17, 223–224 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. O'Leary, M. H. A. Rev. Pl. Physiol. 33, 297–315 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Buchanan, B. B. in Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology 6 (eds Gibbs, M. & Latzko, E.) 416–424 (Springer, Berlin, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Barghoorn, E. S., Knoll, A. H., Dembicki, H. & Meinschein, W. G. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 41, 425–430 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Quandt, L., Gottschalk, G., Ziegler, H. & Stichler, W. FEMS Mikrobiol. Lett. 1, 125–128 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Sirevåg, R., Buchanan, B. B., Berry, J. A. & Troughton, J. H. Arch. Mikrobiol. 112, 35–38 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Benedict, C. R., Wong, W. W. L. & Wong, J. H. H. Pl. Physiol. 65, 512–517 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. LaZerte, B. D. & Szalados, J. E. Limnol. Oceanogr. 27, 413–418 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Schidlowski, M., Matzigkeit, U. & Krumbein, W. E. Naturwissenschaften 71, 303–308 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Schidlowski, M., Matzigkeit, U., Mook, W. G. & Krumbein, W. E. in Hypersaline Ecosystems: The Gavish Sabkha (Ecol. Stud. 53) (eds Friedman, G. M. & Krumbein, W. E.) 381–401 (Springer, Berlin, 1985).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  28. Winkler, F. J., Kexel, H., Kranz, C. & Schmidt, H. L. in Stable Isotopes (Anal. Chem. Symp. Ser. 11) (eds Schmidt, H. L., Förstel, H. & Heinzinger, K.) 83–89 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Durand, B. (ed.) Kerogen—Insoluble Organic Matter from Sedimentary Rocks (Editions Technip, Paris, 1980).

  30. Ronov, A. B. Osadochnaya Obolochka Zemli (Earth's Sedimentary Shell: 20th Vernadsky Lecture (Izdatel'stvo Nauka, Moscow, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Schidlowski, M. in Mineral Deposits and the Evolution of the Biosphere (eds Holland, H. D. & Schidlowski, M.) 103–122 (Springer, Berlin, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  32. Vogel, J. C. in Summer Course on Nuclear Geology, Varenna 1960 (eds Houtermans, F. G., Picciotto, E. E. & Tongiori, E.) 216–221 (Lischi, Pisa, 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sackett, W. M., Nakaparksin, S. & Dalrymple, D. in Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1966 (eds Hobson, G. D. & Speers, G. C.) 37–53 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Chung, H. M. & Sackett, W. M., Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 43, 1979–1988 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Peters, K. E., Rohrback, B. G. & Kaplan, I. R. Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. 65, 501–508 (1981).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Hayes, J. M., Kaplan, I. R. & Wedeking, K. W. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 93–134 (Princeton University Press, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Schidlowski, M. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 141, 243–250 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Keith, M. L. & Weber, J. M. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 28, 1787–1816 (1964).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Degens, E. T. in Organic Geochemistry (eds Eglinton, G. & Murphy, M. T. J.) 304–329 (Springer, Berlin, 1969).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  40. Veizer, J., Holser, W. T. & Wilgus, C. K. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 44, 579–587 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Oehler, D. Z., Schopf, J. W. & Kvenvolden, K. A. Science 175, 1246–1248 (1972).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Eichmann, R. & Schidlowski, M. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 39, 585–595 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Schidlowski, M., Eichmann, R. & Junge, C. E. Precambr. Res. 2, 1–69 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Schidlowski, M., Eichmann, R. & Fiebiger, W. Neues Jb. Miner. Mh. 1976, 344–353 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  45. Veizer, J. & Hoefs, J. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 40, 1387–1395 (1976).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Hayes, J. M. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 291–301 (Princeton University Press, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  47. Schoell, M. & Wellmer, F. W. Nature 290, 696–699 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Strauss, H. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 50, 2653–2662 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Weber, F., Schidlowski, M., Arneth, J. D. & Gauthier-Lafaye, F. Terra Cognila 3, 220 (1983).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Moorbath, S., O'Nions, R. K., Pankhurst, R. J., Gale, N. H. & McGregor, V. R. Nature phys. Sci. 240, 78–82 (1972).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Moorbath, S., O'Nions, R. K. & Pankhurst, R. J. Nature 245, 138–139 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. McKirdy, D. M. & Powell, T. S. Geology 2, 591–595 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Hoefs, J. & Frey, M. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 40, 945–951 (1976).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Valley, J. W. & O'Neil, J. R. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 45, 411–419 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Kreulen, R. & van Beek, P. C. J. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 47, 1527–1530 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Wada, H. & Suzuki, K. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 47, 697–706 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Arneth, J. D., Schidlowski, M., Sarbas, B., Goerg, U. & Amstutz, G. C. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 49, 1553–1560 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Bottinga, Y. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 33, 49–64 (1969).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Lancet, M. S. & Anders, E. Science 170, 980–982 (1970).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Chang, S., DesMarais, D., Mack, R., Miller, S. R. & Strathearn, G. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 53–92 (Princeton University Press, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  61. Cloud, P. E. Paleobiology 2, 351–387 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Awramik, S. M. in Mineral Deposits and the Evolution of the Biosphere (eds Holland, H. D. & Schidlowski, M.) 67–81 (Springer, Berlin, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  63. Schopf, J. W. (ed.) Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution. (Princeton University Press, 1983).

  64. Walter, M. R. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 187–213 (Princeton University Press, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  65. Dunlop, J. S. R., Muir, M. D., Milne, V. A. & Groves, D. I. Nature 274, 676–678 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  66. Lowe, D. R. Nature 284, 441–443 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  67. Walter, M. R., Buick, R. & Dunlop, J. S. R. Nature 284, 443–445 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  68. Pflug, H. D. & Jaeschke-Boyer, H. Nature 280, 483–486 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Awramik, S. M., Schopf, J. W. & Walter, M. R. in Developments and Interactions of the Precambrian Atmosphere, Lithosphere and Biosphere (eds Nagy, B., Weber, R., Guerrero, J. C. & Schidlowski, M.) 249–266 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  70. Bridgwater, D. et al. Nature 289, 51–53 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  71. Roedder, E. Nature 293, 459–462 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  72. Buick, R., Precambr. Res. 24, 157–172 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  73. Deines, P. & Gold, D. P. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 37, 1709–1733 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. DesMarais, D. J. & Moore, J. G. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 69, 43–57 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. Mattey, D. P., Carr, R. H., Wright, I. P. & Pillinger, C. T. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 70, 196–206 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Holland, H. D. The Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Oceans (Wiley, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  77. Stanley, S. M. The New Evolutionary Timetable (Basic Books, New York, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  78. Broecker, W. S. in Carbon and the Biosphere (eds Woodwell, C. M. & Pecan, E. V.) 32–50 (US Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D.C., 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  79. Krumbein, W. E. & Cohen, Y. in Fossil Algae (ed. Flügel, E.) 37–56 (Springer, Berlin, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  80. Cohen, Y., Aizenshtat, Z., Stoler, A. & Jørgensen, B. B. in Biogeochemistry of Ancient and Modern Environments (eds Ralph, J. B., Trudinger, P. A. & Walter, M. R.) 167–172 (Springer, Berlin, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  81. Cameron, E. M. & Garrels, R. M. Chem. Geol. 28, 181–197 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. Holland, H. D. The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans (Princeton University Press, 1984).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  83. Walker, J. C. G. Evolution of the Atmosphere (Macmillan, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  84. Schidlowski, M., Junge, C. E. & Pietrek, H. J. geophys. Res. 82, 2557–2565 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  85. Claypool, G. E., Holser, W. T., Kaplan, I. R., Sakai, H. & Zak, I. Chem. Geol. 28, 199–260 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. Knoll, A. H. Origins of Life 9, 313–327 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  87. Fuchs, G., Thauer, R., Ziegler, H. & Stichler, W. Arch. Mikrobiol. 120, 135–139 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  88. Deines, P. in Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry Vol. 1 (eds Fritz, P. & Fontes, J. C.) 329–406 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (Otto-Hahn-Institut), D-6500, Mainz, FRG

    Manfred Schidlowski

Authors
  1. Manfred Schidlowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schidlowski, M. A 3,800-million-year isotopic record of life from carbon in sedimentary rocks. Nature 333, 313–318 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333313a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/333313a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing