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Palaeobiology

Sea change in sediments

Nature volume 437, pages 826–827 (2005)Cite this article

Earth's oxygen levels increased slowly over a long and ill-defined transitional period around two billion years ago. A microbial ‘footprint’ from this era provides biological evidence to complement existing geological data.

The microorganisms that were the sole forms of life on the early Earth survived billions of years of profound environmental change. Their modern counterparts exhibit a broad range of metabolic capabilities, exploiting diverse energy sources and so thriving in many different environments. But how did this remarkable adaptability develop? And have microorganisms preserved a record of past environmental changes? In the absence of complex body fossils laid down by microorganisms, Brocks and colleagues (page 866 of this issue)1 explore the early biosphere by analysing the chemical ‘footprint’ left by microorganisms on an ocean floor some 1.6 billion years ago, and compare it with how such a footprint would look today. In doing so, they confirm geochemical evidence of changes in the composition of Earth's oceans and atmosphere that occurred over a long period around two billion years ago.

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Figure 1: Life on Earth through the ages.

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  1. Exobiology Branch and the NASA Astrobiology Institute, MS 239-4, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, 94035-1000, California, USA

    David J. Des Marais

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  1. David J. Des Marais
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Marais, D. Sea change in sediments. Nature 437, 826–827 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/437826b

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