| Autor: |
Finke N; Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.; Nordic center for earth evolution (NordCEE), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark., Simister RL; Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada., O'Neil AH; Healthy Waterways, Brisbane, Australia., Nomosatryo S; Research center for Limnology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jawa Barat, Indonesia.; GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany., Henny C; Research center for Limnology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jawa Barat, Indonesia., MacLean LC; Independent researcher, Halifax, Canada., Canfield DE; Nordic center for earth evolution (NordCEE), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark., Konhauser K; Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada., Lalonde SV; European Institute for Marine Studies, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, Plouzané, France., Fowle DA; Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA., Crowe SA; Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. sean.crowe@ubc.ca. |
| Abstrakt: |
Development of Archean paleosols and patterns of Precambrian rock weathering suggest colonization of continents by subaerial microbial mats long before evolution of land plants in the Phanerozoic Eon. Modern analogues for such mats, however, have not been reported, and possible biogeochemical roles of these mats in the past remain largely conceptual. We show that photosynthetic, subaerial microbial mats from Indonesia grow on mafic bedrocks at ambient temperatures and form distinct layers with features similar to Precambrian mats and paleosols. Such subaerial mats could have supported a substantial aerobic biosphere, including nitrification and methanotrophy, and promoted methane emissions and oxidative weathering under ostensibly anoxic Precambrian atmospheres. High C-turnover rates and cell abundances would have made these mats prime locations for early microbial diversification. Growth of landmass in the late Archean to early Proterozoic Eons could have reorganized biogeochemical cycles between land and sea impacting atmospheric chemistry and climate. |
