"Can life develop on an earth-sized moon of a jovian planet that orbits in the habitable zone of its parent star's system?"
Content with the tag: “early earth”
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Early Oxygen
Cores retrieved from layers of deep-sea rocks that are 3.46 billion years old suggest that oceans contained abundant oxygen and that the atmosphere of the Earth was as rich in oxygen as it is today. The cores were obtained in northwestern Western Australia, and contain evidence that the deep ocean 3.46 billion years ago was so rich in oxygen that oxygen-producing organisms must have been actively producing it. This means that oxygen-producing organisms like cyanobacteria were present much earlier in Earth’s history than previously believed.Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]
March 28, 2009 / Posted by: Aaron Gronstal
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New Evidence for an Earlier Origin of Oxygenic Photosynthesis
Outcroppings of ancient ocean sediments show deposits of the iron oxide, hematite. CREDIT: HIROSHI OHMOTONAI’s Archean Biosphere Drilling Project supported the acquisition of pristine drill core samples obtained from ancient rocks in Western Australia. New results from those studies, published in the current issue of Nature Geoscience, point toward an earlier start for oxygenic photosynthesis on the early Earth than previously thought.
An international team of researchers, including members of NAI’s Penn State Team, found hematite crystals and associated minerals preserved in a jasper formation within ancient marine sedimentary rocks. Their interpretation is that the rocks formed in an oxygenated water body 3.46 billion years ago. Because the findings imply the presence...
March 17, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Great Oxidation Event Got Earlier Start
NAI’s Archean Biosphere Drilling Project supported the drilling of several pristine cores from ancient rocks in Western Australia, with the goal of furthering our understanding of the atmosphere, oceans, climate, and biosphere of early Earth. A new paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters from NAI’s Penn State Team outlines results from the analyses of these cores. Their studies evidence oxygenated surface environments, at least localized and/or short-lived, emerging more than 300 million years before the widely accepted Great Oxidation Event during 2.45 and 2.32 billion years ago. This implies that the...
January 29, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks Workshop Proceedings Now Available
In September, 2007, an NAI co-sponsored workshop entitled “Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks” was held in Ontario, Canada. Spearheaded by experts in the field, workshop attendees heard lectures, participated in discussions, and examined field sites toward a greater understanding of early Earth biosignatures, what the remaining major questions and problems are, and how they can be answered and solved. The proceedings from the workshop are available in the current issue of Astrobiology.
January 20, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Iron Isotope Record Reflects Microbial Metabolism Through Time
NAI’s University of Wisconsin team presents a review of iron isotope fingerprints created through biogeochemical cycling in the May, 2008 issue of Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. This landmark paper brings together for the first time the co-evolution records of photosynthesis, bacterial sulfate reduction, and bacterial iron reduction in the early Earth. They review data on natural systems and experiments, looking at both abiological and biological processes, and conclude that the temporal carbon, sulfur, and iron isotope record reflects the interplay of changing microbial metabolisms over Earth’s history.
August 27, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Jack Hills Zircons: New Information About Earth's Earliest Crust
Members of NAI’s University of Wisconsin, Madison team have a new paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters presenting their analyses of 4.35 – 3.36 billion year old detrital zircons from the Jack Hills, Western Australia. Their data reveal relatively high lithium abundances compared to other zircons, as well as lithium isotope ratios that are similar to continental crust weathering products rather than ocean floor basalts. The results support the hypothesis that continental-type crust and oceans existed by 4.3 billion years ago, and suggest that weathering was extensive in the early Archean.
August 27, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Oxygen in Earth's Early Atmosphere
Researchers from NAI’s Carnegie Institution of Washington Team have a paper in this week’s Nature describing evidence that Earth’s Mesoarchean atmosphere (3.2 and 2.8 Gya) possessed very low amounts oxygen. These findings contrast with prior claims that Earth’s atmosphere underwent its first rise in oxygen during the Mesoarchean, and indicate that oxygen first rose above parts per million levels sometime between 2.45 and 2.4 billion years ago.
Source: [Link]
October 10, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Oceans from Comets, A How-To
Last week, teachers in the SETI Institute’s Astrobiology Summer Science Experience workshop probed questions about the Earth’s formation, including “where did the water come from?” The answer discussed was comets, and a classroom activity on how to make them is shared on Space.com…
Source: [Link]
July 1, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Greenhouse Gases on Early Earth Helped Keep It Warm
A team of researchers including members of NAI’s University of Colorado, Boulder Team have provided the first direct field evidence supporting the theory that high concentrations of greenhouse gases could have helped avoid global freezing on the early Earth. They analyzed iron carbonates from 3.75-3.8 billion year old rocks in northern Québec, and conclude that the atmosphere of early Earth contained high levels of CO2. Their paper appears in a recent issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Source: [Link]
February 6, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Organic Hazes on Early Earth and Titan
Researchers from NAI’s Unviersity of Colorado, Boulder and University of Arizona Teams have published a new study in PNAS this week about the atmospheres of both present day Titan and early Earth. For Titan, their experiments modeled conditions measured by the Huygens probe from NASA’s Cassini mission, and CO2 was added to model the early Earth conditions. They conclude that organize haze can form over a wide range of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations.
Source: [Link]
November 6, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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NASA Study Shows Titan and Early Earth Atmospheres are Similar
Organic haze in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon, Titan, is similar to haze in early Earth’s air — haze that may have helped nourish life on our planet— according to a NASA Astrobiology Institute study released Nov. 6, 2006.
November 5, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Photosynthesis in the late Archean
A new study on carbon isotopes in sedimentary rocks from Western Australia by researchers from NAI’s Penn State and Carnegie Institution of Washington Teams supports the idea that small, shallow pools of water containing photosynthetic microbes existed on the early Earth ~ 2.72 Gya, about 300 million years before the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere. Their findings suggest a “global-scale expansion” of these habitats, and a progression away from anaerobic ecosystems and toward photosynthetic communities before the oxygenation of the atmosphere. This work was published in the early edition of this week’s PNAS.
Source: [Link]
October 16, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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A New Book on the Evoution of Earth's Early Atmosphere
With significant contribution from NAI’s Penn State University Team, a new book entitled “Evolution of Early Earth’s Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere – Constraints from Ore Deposits”, edited by Stephen E. Kesler and Hiroshi Ohmoto, is available. It grew from a 2002 Pardee Symposium held during the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting sponsored in part by the NAI.
Source: [Link]
September 7, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Earlier Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis - Surviving Snowball Earth
Roger Buick from NAI’s University of Washington Team and his colleagues report in the current issue of Geology their analysis of oil-bearing fluid inclusions in 2.45 billion year old rocks from Canada. They assert that the oil is derived from an overlying formation, becoming trapped in the host rock before 2.2 billion years ago – prior to the Great Oxidation Event. Abundant biomarkers for cyanobacteria and eukaryotes were identified in the study, suggesting that aqueous environments at the time had become sufficiently oxygenated for sterol biosynthesis to occur, and implying that organisms had the ability to survive “snowball Earth”...
Source: [Link]
June 13, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Biodiversity Rocks the Cover of Nature
The cover of this week’s Nature belongs to Abigail Allwood of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, one of NAI’s International Partners. She and her colleagues put forward the latest research on the ancient rocks of the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, which points to evidence of life on Earth 3.43 billion years ago. Their description of a shallow marine environment, and identification of seven stromatolite morphotypes makes a strong argument for early life. NAI supported Allwood’s work with a 2005 NAI Research Scholarship.
Source: [Link]
June 6, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Timelines for the Evolution of Cyanobacteria
Former NAI Principal Investigator, Andy Knoll of Harvard University, and colleagues discuss the evolution of cyanobacteria in their new paper, “The evolutionary diversification of cyanobacteria: Molecular-phylogenetic and paleontological perspectives” in the April 4th issue of PNAS. The evolutionary timeline has implications for the rise of atmospheric oxygen on Earth.
Image courtesy of Micro*scope
Source: [Link]
April 17, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Habitable Conditions on the Early Earth
Direct information concerning the first 500 million years of Earth history – the Hadean Eon – is very limited, since practically no crustal rocks from that time have survived. We do know that the Earth collided much more frequently than it does today with asteroids and comets, as witnessed by the heavily cratered highlands of the Moon. Astronomers also tell us that the Sun was about 30 percent fainter then, so that the Earth may have been cold, unless there was a large greenhouse effect to trap the Sun’s heat and raise surface temperatures above the freezing point. Also of special interest is the apparent fact that life arose on Earth either during or shortly after the Hadean Eon.
January 23, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Further Studies on the Rise of Atmospheric Oxygen
Lee Kump of NAI’s Pennsylvania State University Lead Team is co-author on a new paper in GSA Today examining the rise of atmospheric oxygen at the Archean-Proterozoic transition, 2.5-2.0 billion years ago. The team of international researchers studied sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the Fennoscandian Shield, which provides a fairly complete record of the hallmark events of that transition.
Source: [Link]
November 28, 2005 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Astrobiologists Find Evidence of Early Life on Land
Scientists with NASA’s Astrobiology Institute have discovered evidence that microbial life emerged on land between 2.6 billion and 2.7 billion years ago, much earlier than previously thought.
January 17, 2001 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Life Under Bombardment
Does Greenland give a clue as to whether life was seeded twice: ‘stock’ cultures surviving one big impact event? Life Under Bombardment looks for the evidence of our terrestrial past.
November 26, 2000 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Leonid Meteors Yield Rich Astrobiology Research Results
In search of meteor showers, an airborne research mission indicates that the chemical precursors to life found in comet dust may well have survived a plunge into early Earth’s atmosphere.
November 26, 2000 / Posted by: Shige Abe
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Climate, Habitability, and the Atmosphere on early Mars
- 16srrna 17p 79 ceti 85p 1999 1999 and 2000 2000 2008 aas abiogenic abiogenic methane abiotic abiotic synthesis abscicon abundances acid mine drainage acidophile activity adaptive optics adenosine triphosphate aerobic aerosol aerosols akila akilia island algae algal-sarcodine photosymbiotic relationships algal cultures alh84001 alien life allan hills alpha centauri altiplano alvin amase american astronomical society american type culture collection amino acid amino acids ammonia ammonia formation ammonium amorphization anaerobic analog environments ancient earth ancient pathways. andes and k content anoxia biomarker permian cambrian terrestrial paleosol oxygen archean proterozoic biogeochemistry extinction euxinia hydrogen sulfide sulfur bacteria anoxic environment anoxygenic photosynthesis antarctica antarctic endolithic communities antartic antartica antennas aqueous alteration archae archaea archaeoglobus archea archean arctic area 9 arid and semi-arid soils aromatic asap (astrobiology sample analysis program) aspartic acid asteroid asteroid 10537 (1991 ry16) asteroids asteroids--dynamics astid astrobiology astrobiology (journal) astrobiology drilling program astrobiology journal astrobiotechnology astrochemistry astronaut astronomical journal astrophysical journal astrophysical journal letters astrophysics atacama atacama desert atlantis atmosphere atmosphere escape atmosphere evolution atmospheric airglow atmospheric carbon dioxide atmospheric chemistry atmospheric evolution atmospheric formation atmospheric photochemistry atp-binding proteins australia australian centre for astrobiology autotrophic auv avhrr database awards axial volcano subsurface fluids axis bacteria bacterial metagenomes bacteriorhodopsin banded iron formations basaltic basaltic lava basalt tuff basalt weathering binaries binaries: spectroscopic bioastronomy biochemical adaption biochemistry bioenergetics biofilms biogenic mineral structure biogenic molecules biogeochemical cycles 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chrysophyte chrysophytes circumstellar disks circumstellar dust. citations climate climate change climate model climate modeling climate models clouds cnn co-evolution co3 cold environments collaborative technology colors comet cometary comet recovery comets comet wild 2 comics community community software complex life complex organics composition compound specific isotopic analysis computational chemistry conference contamination continental core accretion cork observatories cosmic rays cosmochemistry countermeasures coupled models cryptoendolith. crystalline water ice curriculum cyanobacteria cycling d/h ratio dance darwin sequence analysis data data analysis database databases data processing techniques dawn ddf decoherence deep biosphere deep impact deep impact extended mission deep marine sediments deep subsurface biosphere deep terrestrial biosphere dehydratases dehydrogenases deinococci denitrifcation depthx desulfobulbus desulforhopalus detection methods: transit photometry 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endosymbiosis endourance endurance england environments enzyme enzymes eoarchean epimerases epoxi erosion esa ethane eubacteria eukaryote eukaryote evolution eukaryotes eukaryotic-specific primers eukaryotic microbial community europa evaporation evaporite evolution evolution and environment exo-planetary systems exobiology exoplanet exoplanets exosolar planets expose express extra-solar planets extrasolar life extrasolar planet extrasolar planets extraterrestrial extraterrestrial life extreme conditions extreme environment extreme environments extreme life extremeophiles extremephiles extremophiles faint companion farmer fe fe isotopes femtochemistry fiction fieldwork in april of 1999 in the tinto river located in the huelva district of southwestern spain fingerprint fischer-tropsch catalysis flood fluorescence in situ hybridization focus group formation routes forward contamination fossil fossils fracture frogs functional genomics funding fungi fu orionis fuse future of life galaxies 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iron-sulfur minerals iron concentrations iron formation iron isotope fractionation iron oxide iron oxidizing bacteria iron reduction kinetics irons-sulfur surfaces iron spectromicroscopy irradation irradiation ir spectroscopy isomerases isotope isotopes isotopic fractionation iss issol jack hills jakoba incarcerata jakoba libera jakobids jarosite journal:earth journal: journal of geophysical research journal of bacteriology journal of the american chemical society jpl jupiter kbo kbo size distribution kepler key nutrient metals kuiper belt kuiper belt objects laboratory laboratory investigation laboratory science lake lakes landsat tm data laser laser desorption lassen lassen volcanic national park late accretion late bombardment ldn 673 left-handed lefty level of analysis lexen program life life and environment life elsewhere in the universe life in extreme life in our solar system life on mars light lightning li isotopes lipids liquid liquid chromatography mass spectrometry lithic clasts lithophiles living in the microbial world: summer teacher enhancement - august 1999 lmt low-mass low-mass stars low albedo deposits lunar-like satellites lunar exploration lunar impacts m�ssbauer mafic maghemite magnesite magnet magnetic field magnetic fields magnetic fields - stars magnetite magnets main belt asteroids main belt comets maine malawimonas jakobiformis maps marco polo marine ecology marine sediments eukaryotes mars mars. mars analog mars analog. mars analogs mars analog site mars analogues mars atmosphere mars environmental chamber mars exploration mars express mars glaciers mars global surveyor mars habitability mars life mars maps mars methane mars orbiter mars reconnaissance orbiter mars rovers mars science laboratory mars time mars water martian analogues martian atmosphere martian channels martian dynamo martian meteorites martian oceans mass extinction mass extinctions mbcs mcmurdo dry valleys m dwarfs m dwarf stars media membranes mercury messenger metabolic chemistry metagenome metagenomics metal isotope fractionation metal sulfides metamorphism meteor meteorite meteorites meteoritic organics meteors meterite meterorites methane methane cycle methanococcus methanogen methanogenesis methanogens methanopyrus methodology mexico micro-oxic environment microbes microbial microbial communities microbial community microbial community population structures microbial diversity microbial ecology microbial ecosystem microbial ecosystems microbial evolution microbial evolutionary processes. microbial geochemistry microbialite microbialites microbial life microbial mat microbial mats microbiology microgravity microlensing microorganisms microscopy miller-urey miller-urey experiments mineral biosignature mineralogy mirs missions mitochondria mixed cation carbonates mo model interface models mojave molecular-level computer simulations molecular beam molecular biology and evolution (journal) molecular cloud molecular clouds molecular evolution 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