Biogeosciences
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Articles | Volume 16, issue 12
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.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2443-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 16, issue 12
Research article
 | 
19 Jun 2019
Research article |  | 19 Jun 2019

Organic signatures in Pleistocene cherts from Lake Magadi (Kenya) – implications for early Earth hydrothermal deposits

Manuel Reinhardt, Walter Goetz, Jan-Peter Duda, Christine Heim, Joachim Reitner, and Volker Thiel

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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.
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