Microbial Fossils in the 2.63 Ga Jeerinah Formation, Western Australia-Evidence of Microbial Oxidation

• A diamond drill core from the upper part of the Jeerinah Formation (similar to 2.63 Ga), underlying the Hamersley Group, deposited at a time when the oxygen concentrations in the marine environment were extremely low, was examined for microbial fossils. The paper presents organo-mineral structures in the form of twisted stalks produced by bacteria being present in the laminated black carbonaceous shale sediments. These twisted stalks are organo-mineral structures produced by microaerophilic Fe(II)-oxidizing-type bacteria such as Gallionella and/or Mariprofundus that are active at very low-oxygen concentrations, thus providing evidence for oxygen being present in the marine environment at 2.63 Ga.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Banded iron formations

Gallionella

Mariprofundus

microbial fossil

oxygen evolution

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