Articles | Volume 16, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2443-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2443-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Jun 2019
Research article |
| 19 Jun 2019
| 19 Jun 2019
Organic signatures in Pleistocene cherts from Lake Magadi (Kenya) – implications for early Earth hydrothermal deposits
Planets and Comets, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research,
37077 Göttingen, Germany
Department of Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, University of
Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Walter Goetz
Planets and Comets, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research,
37077 Göttingen, Germany
Jan-Peter Duda
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA
92521, USA
Christine Heim
Department of Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, University of
Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Joachim Reitner
Department of Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, University of
Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Origin of Life Group, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and
Humanities, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Volker Thiel
Department of Geobiology, Geoscience Centre, University of
Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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Latest update: 01 Jul 2025
Short summary
Organic matter in Archean hydrothermal cherts may contain molecular traces of early life. Alteration processes during and after deposition, however, may have obliterated potential biosignatures. Our results from modern analog samples (Pleistocene cherts from Lake Magadi, Kenya) show that biomolecules can survive early hydrothermal destruction in the macromolecular fraction of the organic matter. A conservation of molecular biosignatures in Archean hydrothermal cherts therefore seems possible.
Organic matter in Archean hydrothermal cherts may contain molecular traces of early life....
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