Ancient rocks in northwestern Canada may contain the oldest evidence of life on Earth.
Scientists have discovered remains of microorganisms that likely thrived around 3.8 billion years ago near volcanic vents on the seafloor, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature.
SEE ALSO:Scientists are firing lasers at dinosaur fossils, and the result is awesomeIron-dwelling bacteria left behind tiny, rusty filaments and tubes, which were found encased in layers of quartz in the Nuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt near Quebec.
"The fact we unearthed them from one of the oldest-known rock formations suggests we've found direct evidence of one of Earth's oldest life forms," Dominic Papineau, the study lead and a lecturer at University College London (UCL)'s Earth Sciences department, said in a press release.
A bright red concretion of an iron-rich and silica-rich rock, which contains microfossils.Credit: Dominic Papineau"This discovery helps us piece together the history of our planet and the remarkable life on it, and will help to identify traces of life elsewhere in the universe," he said. Most likely, that means searching for evidence of life on Mars.
Prior to this study, the oldest known microfossils were found in western Australia and dated at around 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists also uncovered a set of 3.7 billion-year-old microbial remains found in Greenland, although the evidence for life in the Arctic formations is not nearly as solid as that found in Australia.
Scientists from Canada, the U.K., the United States, Norway and Australia teamed up on the Canadian fossil study.
They searched for fossil evidence in the Nuvvuagittuq belt because it contains some of the Earth's oldest known sedimentary rocks, which were likely formed by deep-sea hydrothermal vents that spewed out scalding water laden with minerals, including iron.
These vents may have hosted bacterial life between 3.8 billion and 4.3 billion years ago, not long after the Earth formed.
Scientific evidence suggests our planet had liquid water at its surface around this time -- and possibly so did Mars.
Red hematite is seen inside layers of quartz.Credit: matthew doddThe fact that bacterial life was gushing from deep-sea vents in Earth's earliest years suggests the same might've been happening on the red planet, said Matthew Dodd, a doctoral student at the London Center for Nanotechnology and the study's first author.
The fossil find in Canada poses "exciting questions for extra-terrestrial life," he said in the press release. "We expect to find evidence for past life on Mars [4 billion] years ago, or if not, Earth may have been a special exception."
(责任编辑：熱點)
Nancy Pelosi warns colleagues after info hacked
Church puts their nativity scene in a cage to protest Trump's immigration policies
The best tweets of 2018 so far
Lime, Jump, and other bikeAustralian football makes history with first LGBT Pride GameSINGAPORE -- Getting stuff done at the bank often involves having to waste part of your day standing
...[详细]Church puts their nativity scene in a cage to protest Trump's immigration policies
Traditionally, the nativity scene is pastoral -- meant to inspire feelings of joy, not gut-wrenching
...[详细]England fans storm London IKEA after World Cup win over Sweden
English sportsmanship: Assembly will definitely be required. Rowdy (translation: terrible) fans cele
...[详细]Sacha Baron Cohen teases a new Trump
The man behind the characters Borat, Brüno, and Ali G is teasing a new project that may be rela
...[详细]When Honda revealed its stunning and grandparent-scaring Civic Hatchback Prototype earlier this year
...[详细]Cop called on black state representative campaigning in her neighborhood has the right response
Another day, another name to add to the ever-growing list of "Black People Who Had The Cops Called O
...[详细]
Listen, I don't need to tell you that things aren't great right now. There are separated families in
...[详细]Apple Music is beating Spotify in the US with more subscribers
Apple Music has reportedly surpassed Spotify in total number of U.S. subscribers.According to an ano
...[详细]Dramatic photo captures nun texting friends after Italy earthquake
The image of an injured, bloodied nun, calmly texting friends and family in the wake of the deadly e
...[详细]Timehop hacked: Names, emails, phone numbers stolen
If you're a Timehop user, we've got some really bad news. The app, which reminds you of your past so
...[详细]Tourist survives for month in frozen New Zealand wilderness after partner dies
Dick Cheney signs waterboarding kit in Sacha Baron Cohen's latest teaser: Watch
