Journal ArticleDOI
Could bacteria have formed the Precambrian banded iron formations
Kurt O. Konhauser,Tristan Hamade,Robert Raiswell,R. C. Morris,F. Grant Ferris,Gordon Southam,Donald E. Canfield +6 more
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This article showed that even during periods of maximum iron precipitation, most, if not all, of the iron in BIFs could be precipitated by iron-oxidizing bacteria in cell densities considerably less than those found in modern Fe-rich aqueous environments.Abstract:
Banded iron formations (BIFs) are prominent sedimentary deposits of the Precambrian, but despite a century of endeavor, the mechanisms of their deposition are still unresolved. Interactions between microorganisms and dissolved ferrous iron in the ancient oceans offer one plausible means of mineral precipitation, in which bacteria directly generate ferric iron either by chemolithoautotrophic iron oxidation or by photoferrotrophy. On the basis of chemical analyses from BIF units of the 2.5 Ga Hamersley Group, Western Australia, we show here that even during periods of maximum iron precipitation, most, if not all, of the iron in BIFs could be precipitated by iron-oxidizing bacteria in cell densities considerably less than those found in modern Fe-rich aqueous environments. Those ancient microorganisms would also have been easily supported by the concentrations of nutrients (P) and trace metals (V, Mn, Co, Zn, and Mo) found within the same iron-rich bands. These calculations highlight the potential importance of early microbial activity on ancient metal cycling.read more
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The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere
TL;DR: The initial increase of O2 in the atmosphere, its delayed build-up in the ocean, its increase to near-modern levels in the sea and air two billion years later, and its cause-and-effect relationship with life are among the most compelling stories in Earth’s history.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microorganisms pumping iron: anaerobic microbial iron oxidation and reduction
TL;DR: Biological iron apportionment has been described as one of the most ancient forms of microbial metabolism on Earth, and as a conceivable extraterrestrial metabolism on other iron-mineral-rich planets such as Mars.
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Some Precambrian banded iron-formations (BIFs) from around the world: Their age, geologic setting, mineralogy, metamorphism, geochemistry, and origins
TL;DR: Banded iron-formations (BIFs) occur in the Precambrian geologic record over a wide time span as mentioned in this paper and are part of Archean cratons and range in age from about 3.5 until 2.5 Ga.
Journal ArticleDOI
Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic, and Biospheric Processes
Andrey Bekker,Bryan Krapež,John F. Slack,Noah J. Planavsky,Axel Hofmann,Kurt O. Konhauser,Olivier Rouxel +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that occurrences of BIF, GIF, Pherozoic ironstones, and exhalites surrounding VMS systems are linked to diverse environmental changes.
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Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria: An Environmental and Genomic Perspective
TL;DR: Research on lithotrophic, oxygen-dependent FeOB that grow at circumneutral pH has accelerated, driven by several factors including the recognition by both microbiologists and geoscientists of the role FeOB play in the biogeochemistry of iron and other elements.
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a method to solve the problem of how to find the shortest path between two points of interest in a set of images. Index Reference Record created on 2004-09-07, modified on 2016-08-08
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Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes
TL;DR: The presence of steranes, particularly cholestane and its 28- to 30-carbon analogs, provides persuasive evidence for the existence of eukaryotes 500 million to 1 billion years before the extant fossil record indicates that the lineage arose.
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A new model for Proterozoic ocean chemistry
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that anoxic bottom waters probably persisted until well after the deposition of banded iron formations ceased, and they also propose that sulphide, rather than oxygen, was responsible for removing iron from deep ocean water.