Phosphate oxygen isotopic evidence for a temperate and biologically active Archaean ocean

Ruth E. Blake (), Sae Jung Chang and Aivo Lepland
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Ruth E. Blake: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA
Sae Jung Chang: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA
Aivo Lepland: Geological Survey of Norway

Nature, 2010, vol. 464, issue 7291, 1029-1032

Abstract: A temperate Archaean ocean It had been thought that ocean temperatures during the early Archaean (around 3.5 billion years ago) were between 55 and 85 °C. But a recent study made a case for Archaean ocean temperatures no greater than 40 °C. The well-preserved rocks of the Barberton Greenstone Belt in southern Africa contain a geochemical record of the early life and ocean chemistry of 3.2 to 3.5 billion years ago. A new study of oxygen isotope compositions of phosphates in Barberton sediments provides support for the cooler, temperate Archaean ocean around 26 to 35 °C. The findings suggest a well-developed phosphorus cycle and evolved biological activity on the Archaean Earth.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08952

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