Earliest Life on Earth: Habitats, Environments and Methods of Detection

Preface

Contributors

Dedication to John F. Lindsay

Introduction; Miryam Glikson and Suzanne D. Golding

Part I: Submarine hot springs and venting environments - cradle of life

Earliest seafloor hydrothermal systems on Earth: Comparison with modern analogues; Suzanne D. Golding et al

Archean hydrothermal systems in the Barberton Greenstone Belt and their significance as a habitat for early life; Axel Hofmann

Birth of biomolecules from the warm wet sheets of clays near spreading centres; Lynda.B. Williams et al

Part II: Evidence and record of earliest life on Earth

Towards a null hypothesis for stromatolites; Martin D. Brasier

Trace element geochemistry as a tool for interpreting microbialites; Gregory E. Webb and Balz S. Kamber

A modern perspective on ancient life: microbial mats in sandy marine settings from the Archean Era to today; Nora Noffke

Early life record from nitrogen isotopes; Daniele L. Pinti and  Ko Hashizume

Part III: Distinguishing biological from abiotically synthesized organic matter in the early archean

Integration of observational and analytical methodologies to characterize organic matter in early Archean rocks: distinguishing biological from abiotically synthesized carbonaceous matter structures; Miryam Glikson et al

Bugs or gunk? Nanoscale methods for assessing the biogenicity of ancient microfossils and organic matter; Bradley T. De Gregorio et al

What can carbon isotopes tell us about sources of reduced carbon in rocks from the early Earth; Thomas M. McCollom

Index