Structures resembling remarkably preserved bacterial and cyanobacterial microfossils from about 3,465-million-year-old Apex cherts of the Warrawoona Group in Western Australia currently provide the oldest morphological evidence for life on Earth and have been taken to support an early beginning for oxygen-producing photosynthesis. Eleven species of filamentous prokaryote, distinguished by shape and geometry, have been put forward as meeting the criteria required of authentic Archaean microfossils, and contrast with other microfossils dismissed as either unreliable or unreproducible. These structures are nearly a billion years older than putative cyanobacterial biomarkers, genomic arguments for cyanobacteria, an oxygenic atmosphere and any comparably diverse suite of microfossils. Here we report new research on the type and re-collected material, involving mapping, optical and electron microscopy, digital image analysis, micro-Raman spectroscopy and other geochemical techniques. We reinterpret the purported microfossil-like structure as secondary artefacts formed from amorphous graphite within multiple generations of metalliferous hydrothermal vein chert and volcanic glass. Although there is no support for primary biological morphology, a Fischer--Tropsch-type synthesis of carbon compounds and carbon isotopic fractionation is inferred for one of the oldest known hydrothermal systems on Earth.

The evolutionary history of oxygenesis is controversial. Form I of ribulose 1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in oxygen‐tolerant organisms both enables them to carry out oxygenic extraction of carbon from air and enables the competitive process of photorespiration. Carbon isotopic evidence is presented from ~2.9 Ga stromatolites from Steep Rock, Ontario, Canada, ~2.9 Ga stromatolites from Mushandike, Zimbabwe, and ~2.7 Ga stromatolites in the Belingwe belt, Zimbabwe. The data imply that in all three localities the reef‐building autotrophs included organisms using Form I Rubisco. This inference, though not conclusive, is supported by other geochemical evidence that these stromatolites formed in oxic conditions. Collectively, the implication is that oxygenic photosynthesizers first appeared ~2.9 Ga ago, and were abundant 2.7–2.65 Ga ago. Rubisco specificity (its preference for CO2 over O2) and compensation constraints (the limits on carbon fixation) may explain the paradox that despite the inferred evolution of oxygenesis 2.9 Ga ago, the Late Archaean air was anoxic. The atmospheric CO2:O2 ratio, and hence greenhouse warming, may reflect Form I Rubisco's specificity for CO2 over O2. The system may be bistable under the warming Sun, with liquid oceans occurring in either anoxic (H2O with abundant CH4 plus CO2) or oxic (H2O with more abundant CO2, but little CH4) greenhouse states. Transition between the two states would involve catastrophic remaking of the biosphere. Build‐up of a very high atmospheric inventory of CO2 in the 2.3 Ga glaciation may have allowed the atmosphere to move up the CO2 compensation line to reach stability in an oxygen‐rich system. Since then, Form I Rubisco specificity and consequent compensation limits may have maintained the long‐term atmospheric disproportion between O2 and CO2, which is now close to both CO2 and O2 compensation barriers.

We present compositional data on a suite of 18 primitive neovolcanic alkali basalts from three flank zone regions in Iceland (Vestmannaeyjar in the south, Snaefell in the east, and Snaefellsnes in the west) that are peripheral to the main rift zones that are dominated by tholeiitic basalts. This study integrates He isotope data with radiogenic isotope data (Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf), stable isotope data (δ 18 O), and trace element data to characterise the compositional features of the trace-elementenriched components of the Icelandic mantle. We also present high-precision Pb isotope data on an additional 57 lava samples from the flank zones (including Öraefajökull in the southeast) and the Northern and Eastern rift zones. Most Icelandic lavas have negative ∆ 207 Pb (-4 to-1), with higher values (-1 to +4) found only in samples from Öraefajökull, Snaefell, and parts of the Reykjanes Peninsula. At Snaefell, this EM1-type component is characterised by a low δ 18 O olivine signature (+4.1‰ to +4.6‰), moderate 206 Pb/ 204 Pb values (18.4-18.6) and MORB-like 3 He/ 4 He (6.9-7.5 R/R A). Samples from Vestmannaeyjar and Snaefellsnes have mantle-like δ 18 O olivine (+4.9‰ to +5.0‰), and radiogenic 206 Pb/ 204 Pb values (18.9-19.3) that fall on the NHRL for 208 Pb/ 204 Pb (∆ 208 Pb-5 to +5). Compared to the Vestmannaeyjar lavas, Snaefellsnes lavas have higher La/Yb N (5-11 vs. 3-5), lower ε Nd (5.5-6.5 vs. 6.8-7.6) and lower 3 He/ 4 He (6.3-8.6 R/R A vs. 11.4-13.5 R/R A). Therefore, the most trace element enriched components in the Icelandic mantle are not the carriers of the high 3 He/ 4 He values (> 15 R/R A) found in some lavas on Iceland and the adjacent ridges, and instead are consistent with degassed, recycled components. Even after excluding the EM1-type high ∆ 207 Pb samples, high-precision Pb isotope data produce a kinked array on an 206 Pb/ 204 Pb vs. 208 Pb/ 204 Pb plot, which is not consistent with simple binary mixing between two end-members. This requires significant lateral heterogeneity within the Icelandic mantle and the presence of more than just two compositionally-distinct local mixing end-member components. Samples from each of the main axial rift zones define different trends. Despite the tectonic continuity between the Northern Volcanic Zone and the Eastern Volcanic Zone, lavas from these two rift zones define separate sub-parallel linear arrays. Lavas from the adjacent Western Volcanic Zone and the Eastern Volcanic Zone define oblique linear arrays that converge on a common local end-member that is not involved in the magmatism of the Northern Volcanic Zone. Therefore, there is a distinct NE-SW compositional heterogeneity within the Icelandic mantle.

International audienceInteracting, diverse microbe-sediment systems exist in natural environments today but have not yet been recognized in the oldest records of life on Earth (older than 3.3 Ga) because of lack of distinctive biomarker molecules and patchy preservation of microbial paleocommunities. In an in-situ outcrop-to microbial-scale study, we have differentiated probable phototrophic, chemolithotrophic, and chemo-organotrophic fossil microbial signatures in a nearshore vol-canogenic sedimentary setting in 3.33 Ga rocks of the Josefsdal Chert, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, while demonstrating the importance of contemporaneous hydrothermal activity. Hydrothermal fluids, as a nutrient source, strongly controlled the development and distribution of the microbial communities and, as a silicifying agent, contributed to their rapid fossilization. We thus show that intricate microbe-sediment systems are deep-rooted in time and that at least some early life may indeed have been thermophilic. INTRODUCTION Microbial communities in natural environments exist as multispecies assemblages that interact directly with one another and with their surroundings, and thus can be viewed as distinctive systems (Nealson, 1997). For example, a wide diversity of organotrophic and lithotro-phic (chemotrophic) microorganisms has been described in present-day, carbon-rich hydrother-mally influenced basaltic sediments (Callac et al., 2013), similar to those described from early Earth. However, lack of specific biomarker preservation in very ancient rocks (Summons, 1993) and haphazard preservation of microbial communities in general (Campbell et al., 2001; Orange et al., 2009) make tracing such systems in fossilized form to the oldest records of life on Earth (early Archean, older than 3.3 Ga) very challenging. Nevertheless, phototrophic microbial communities in early to mid-Archean (ca. 3.5–3.2 Ga) strata of South Africa and Australia have been well documented (). On the other hand, no previous investigations have recognized and addressed the syngenetic diversity of Archean microbial paleocommunities—both phototrophs and che-motrophs —within their sedimentary habitats at the microbial scale and using in-situ methods. Here we describe a macroscopic to microscopic investigation of the sedimentary and geochemical settings of widespread, fossilized phototrophic and chemotrophic microorganisms in early to mid-Archean (3.33 Ga) coastal sediments from the Josefsdal Chert, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa. We also emphasize the importance of contemporaneous hydrothermal activity both as a source of energy for biomass production and as the means of preserving the biosignatures

The consumption of groundwater polluted by arsenic (As) has a severe and adverse effect on human health, particularly where, as happens in parts of SE Asia, groundwater is supplied largely from fluvial/deltaic aquifers. The lateral distribution of the As-pollution in such aquifers is heterogeneous. The cause of the heterogeneity is obscure. The location and severity of the As-pollution is therefore difficult to predict, despite the importance of such predictions to the protection of consumer health, aquifer remediation, and aquifer development. To explain the heterogeneity, we mapped As-pollution in groundwater using 659 wells across 102 km(2) of West Bengal, and logged 43 boreholes, to reveal that the distribution of As-pollution is governed by subsurface sedimentology. Across 47 km(2) of contiguous palaeo-interfluve, we found that the shallow aquifer (<70 mbgl) is unpolluted by As (<10 μg/L) because it is capped by an impermeable palaeosol of red clay (the last glacial maximum palaeosol, or LGMP, of ref 1 ) at depths between 16 and 24 mbgl. The LGMP protects the aquifer from vertical recharge that might carry As-rich water or dissolved organic matter that might drive reduction of sedimentary iron oxides and so release As to groundwater. In 55 km(2) of flanking palaeo-channels, the palaeosol is absent, so invasion of the aquifer by As and dissolved organic matter can occur, so palaeo-channel groundwater is mostly polluted by As (>50 μg/L). The role of palaeosols and, in particular, the LGMP, has been overlooked as a control on groundwater flow and pollutant movement in deltaic and coastal aquifers worldwide. Models of pollutant infiltration in such environments must include the appreciation that, where the LGMP (or other palaeosols) are present, recharge moves downward in palaeo-channel regions that are separated by palaeo-interfluvial regions where vertical recharge to underlying aquifers cannot occur and where horizontal flow occurs above the LGMP and any aquifer it caps.

The Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), a period of intense, global warming about 55 million years ago, has been attributed to a rapid rise in greenhouse gas levels, with dissociation of methane hydrates being the most commonly invoked explanation. It has been suggested previously that high-latitude methane emissions from terrestrial environments could have enhanced the warming effect, but direct evidence for an increased methane flux from wetlands is lacking. The Cobham Lignite, a recently characterized expanded lacustrine/mire deposit in England, spans the onset of the PETM and therefore provides an opportunity to examine the biogeochemical response of wetland-type ecosystems at that time. Here we report the occurrence of hopanoids, biomarkers derived from bacteria, in the mire sediments from Cobham. We measure a decrease in the carbon isotope values of the hopanoids at the onset of the PETM interval, which suggests an increase in the methanotroph population. We propose that this reflects an increase in methane production potentially driven by changes to a warmer and wetter climate. Our data suggest that the release of methane from the terrestrial biosphere increased and possibly acted as a positive feedback mechanism to global warming.

Modelling suggests that the UV radiation environment of the early Earth, with DNA weighted irradiances of about three orders of magnitude greater than those at present, was hostile to life forms at the surface, unless they lived in specific protected habitats. However, we present empirical evidence that challenges this commonly held view. We describe a well-developed microbial mat that formed on the surface of volcanic littoral sediments in an evaporitic environment in a 3.5-3.3Ga-old formation from the Barberton greenstone belt. Using a multiscale, multidisciplinary approach designed to strongly test the biogenicity of potential microbial structures, we show that the mat was constructed under flowing water by 0.25 microm filaments that produced copious quantities of extracellular polymeric substances, representing probably anoxygenic photosynthesizers. Associated with the mat is a small colony of rods-vibroids that probably represent sulphur-reducing bacteria. An embedded suite of evaporite minerals and desiccation cracks in the surface of the mat demonstrates that it was periodically exposed to the air in an evaporitic environment. We conclude that DNA-damaging UV radiation fluxes at the surface of the Earth at this period must either have been low (absorbed by CO2, H2O, a thin organic haze from photo-dissociated CH4, or SO2 from volcanic outgassing; scattered by volcanic, and periodically, meteorite dust, as well as by the upper layers of the microbial mat) and/or that the micro-organisms exhibited efficient gene repair/survival strategies.

Implications of a 3.472-3.333 Gyr-old subaerial microbial mat from the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa for the UV environmental conditions on the early Earth