Articles | Volume 20, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1901-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1901-2023
Research article
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24 May 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 24 May 2023

The Volyn biota (Ukraine) – indications of 1.5 Gyr old eukaryotes in 3D preservation, a spotlight on the “boring billion”

Gerhard Franz, Vladimir Khomenko, Peter Lyckberg, Vsevolod Chournousenko, Ulrich Struck, Ulrich Gernert, and Jörg Nissen

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1116', Anonymous Referee #1, 30 Nov 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Gerhard Franz, 07 Feb 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1116', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Jan 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Gerhard Franz, 07 Feb 2023
  • RC3: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1116', Anonymous Referee #3, 27 Jan 2023
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Gerhard Franz, 07 Feb 2023

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (09 Feb 2023) by Tina Treude
AR by Gerhard Franz on behalf of the Authors (07 Mar 2023)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (15 Mar 2023) by Tina Treude
RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (18 Mar 2023)
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (11 Apr 2023)
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (12 Apr 2023) by Tina Treude
AR by Gerhard Franz on behalf of the Authors (17 Apr 2023)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (21 Apr 2023) by Tina Treude
AR by Gerhard Franz on behalf of the Authors (24 Apr 2023)  Manuscript 
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Co-editor-in-chief
The study by Franz et al. provides exciting new insights into deep biosphere processes during the 'boring billion', indicating that fungi-like eukaryotic organisms developed before 1 Ga and that a deep continental biosphere was already present in the Early Mesoproterozoic/Late Paleoproterozoic.
Short summary
This research describes the occurrence of Precambrian fossils, with exceptionally well preserved morphology in 3D. These microfossils reach a size of millimeters (possibly up to centimeters) and thus indicate the presence of multicellular eukaryotes. Many of them are filamentous, but other types were also found. These fossils lived in a depth of several hundred meters and thus provide good evidence of a continental the deep biosphere, from a time generally considered as the boring billion.
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