[ad_1]
A layer of fossilized microbes that probably lived on the floor of an ancient river bed was discovered in South Africa. These microbes lived about 3.22 billion years ago, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience .
The concept that life existed at the beginning of the Earth's history has existed for decades, but a lack of hard evidence. probably persisted because most of the planet could have been under water until 3 billion years ago, said Hugo Beraldi Campesi, a geobiologist at the National University of Mexico,
. College London discovered that remnants of microorganisms in Canada were estimated to be at least 3.77 billion years old. These results are unusual and the evidence is still scarce. But these recent discoveries have brought to light a moment in the Earth's history where the microscopic life of the planet could have been plentiful.
![[en anglais seulement] [19459] ] saarficaLandscape-0730](https://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/embed-lg/public/2018/07/30/saarficalandscape-0730.jpg)
The Makhonjwa Mountains seen from the Eureka viewpoint on the geotrail near Barberton, Mpumalanga, South Africa, on July 3, 2018. The researchers found what they believe to be the most important. one of the oldest evidence of human life on Earth. These findings indicate that the beginnings of life may have emerged "from the warm mouths of the seabed shortly after the formation of the planet Earth," Matthew. Dodd, researcher at UCL Earth Sciences and London Center for Nanotechnology, told CNNResearchers at the European Institute of Marine Studies have discovered fossilized microbes on what is considered as one of the oldest coastlines in the world in the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains. Stefan Lalonde, a geochemist from the European Institute of Marine Studies in France and co-author of the new study, told Live Science
that fossils prove that a thick layer of microbes prospered at this place and this other life probably lived there too. A ripple pattern – frozen in time – suggests that the leaves of microbes have covered the bottom of a river or creek
View all best photos of the week in these slideshows
basically the oldest bed in the river, "said Lalonde." And it already contains life. "
Nitrogen atoms found in fossils suggest that microbes Ancient people were consuming nitrate, which would have given them the energy they needed to thrive.They likely lived on Earth during the Archean era, which lasted from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago.
"This confirms that the terrestrial continents were fully developed," said Beraldi Campesi.
[ad_2]
Source link
