SYDNEY: Life on Earth is even older than we thought, Australian scientists said on Friday as they unveiled fossils dating back a staggering 3.7 billion years.
\nThe tiny structures \u2014 called stromatolites \u2014 were found in ancient rock along the edge of Greenland\u2019s ice cap, and were 220 million years older than the previous record holders.
\nThey showed that life emerged fairly shortly \u2014 in geological terms \u2014 after Earth was formed some 4.5bn years ago, said lead researcher Allen Nutman of the University of Wollongong. And, he added, they offered hope that very basic life might at one point have existed on Mars.
\n\u201cThis discovery represents a new benchmark for the oldest preserved evidence of life on Earth,\u201d Professor Martin Julian Van Kranendonk, a geology expert at the University of New South Wales and study co-author, said in a statement.
\nThe structure and geochemistry of the rock in which the structures were found provided clues to a biological origin for the microfossils, he said, which in turn \u201cpoints to a rapid emergence of life on Earth\u201d.
\nThe one-to-four centimetre high Isua stromatolites were exposed after the melting of a snow patch in the Isua Greenstone Belt of Greenland.
\nStromatolites are formed when microorganisms, such as certain kinds of bacteria, trap bits of sediment together in layers. These layers build up over time to create solid rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY: Life on Earth is even older than we thought, Australian scientists said on Friday as they unveiled fossils dating back a staggering 3.7 billion years. The tiny structures \u2014 called stromatolites \u2014 were found in ancient rock along the edge of Greenland\u2019s ice cap, and were 220 million years older than the previous record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n