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Remains of microorganisms at least 3,770 million years old have been discovered by an international team of scientists including a researcher from The University of Western Australia, providing direct evidence of one of the oldest life forms on Earth.

Tiny filaments and tubes formed by bacteria that lived on iron were found encased in quartz layers in the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt (NSB) in Quebec, Canada.

The NSB contains some of the oldest sedimentary rocks known on Earth which likely formed part of an iron-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent system that provided a habitat for Earth’s first life forms between 3,770 and 4,300 million years ago.

Adjunct Professor Franco Pirajno, from UWA’s Centre for Exploration Targeting, contributed his geological knowledge of the 1.8 billion-year-old Earaheedy Basin in Western Australia’s remote Eastern Goldfields region.

Professor Pirajno provided the lead research team from University College London with geological samples from the Earaheedy Basin, north-east of Wiluna, for further analysis and comparison.

“This research paper provides a remarkable insight into the conditions that led to the origins of life on our planet,” he said.

Co-author Matthew Dodd, a PhD student from UCL Earth Sciences and the London Centre for Nanotechnology, said the discovery supported the idea that life emerged from hot, seafloor vents shortly after planet Earth formed.

“This speedy appearance of life on Earth fits with other evidence of recently discovered 3,700 million year old sedimentary mounds that were shaped by microorganisms,” Mr Dodd said.

Published today in Nature and funded by UCL, NASA, Carnegie of Canada and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the study describes the discovery and the detailed analysis of the remains undertaken by the team from UCL, the Geological Survey of Norway, US Geological Survey, The University of Western Australia, the University of Ottawa and the University of Leeds.

Before this discovery, the oldest microfossils reported were found in Western Australia and dated at 3,460 million years old but some scientists think they might be non-biological artefacts in the rocks. It was therefore a priority for the UCL-led team to determine whether the remains had biological origins.

The researchers systematically looked at the ways the tubes and filaments, made of haematite – a form of iron oxide or ‘rust’ – could have been made through non-biological methods such as temperature and pressure changes in the rock during burial of the sediments, but found all of the possibilities unlikely.

The haematite structures have the same characteristic branching of iron-oxidising bacteria found near other hydrothermal vents today and were found alongside graphite and minerals like apatite and carbonate which are found in biological matter including bones and teeth and are frequently associated with fossils.

They also found that the mineralised fossils are associated with spheroidal structures that usually contain fossils in younger rocks, suggesting that the haematite most likely formed when bacteria that oxidised iron for energy were fossilised in the rock.

Lead author Dr Dominic Papineau, from UCL Earth Sciences and the London Centre for Nanotechnology, said researchers found the filaments and tubes inside centimetre-sized structures called concretions or nodules, as well as other tiny spheroidal structures, called rosettes and granules, all of which were thought to be the products of putrefaction.

“They are mineralogically identical to those in younger rocks from Norway, the Great Lakes area of North America and Western Australia,” Dr Papineau said.

“The structures are composed of the minerals expected to form from putrefaction, and have been well documented throughout the geological record, from the beginning until today.

“The fact we unearthed them from one of the oldest known rock formations, suggests we’ve found direct evidence of one of Earth’s oldest life forms. This discovery helps us piece together the history of our planet and the remarkable life on it, and will help to identify traces of life elsewhere in the universe.”

Mr Dodd said the discoveries demonstrated life developed on Earth at a time when Mars and Earth had liquid water at their surfaces, posing exciting questions for extra-terrestrial life.

“Therefore, we expect to find evidence for past life on Mars 4,000 million years ago, or if not, Earth may have been a special exception,” he said

Media references

Adjunct Professor Franco Pirajno (UWA Centre for Exploration Targeting)     (+61 8) 9222 3155 / (+61 4) 88 194 350

David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)                                     (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716