Isotopic evidence for microbial sulphate reduction in the early Archaean era

Sulphate-reducing microbes affect the modern sulphur cycle, and may be quite ancient, though when they evolved is uncertain. These organisms produce sulphide while oxidizing organic matter or hydrogen with sulphate. At sulphate concentrations greater than 1 mM, the sulphides are isotopically fractionated (depleted in 34S) by 10-40/1000 compared to the sulphate, with fractionations decreasing to near 0/1000 at lower concentrations. The isotope record of sedimentary sulphides shows large fractionations relative to seawater sulphate by 2.7 Gyr ago, indicating microbial sulphate reduction. In older rocks, however, much smaller fractionations are of equivocal origin, possibly biogenic but also possibly volcanogenic. Here we report microscopic sulphides in approximately 3.47-Gyr-old barites from North Pole, Australia, with maximum fractionations of 21.1/1000, about a mean of 11.6/1000, clearly indicating microbial sulphate reduction. Our results extend the geological record of microbial sulphate reduction back more than 750 million years, and represent direct evidence of an early specific metabolic pathway--allowing time calibration of a deep node on the tree of life.     

Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia

The 3,430-million-year-old Strelley Pool Chert (SPC) (Pilbara Craton, Australia) is a sedimentary rock formation containing laminated structures of probable biological origin (stromatolites). Determining the biogenicity of such ancient fossils is the subject of ongoing debate. However, many obstacles to interpretation of the fossils are overcome in the SPC because of the broad extent, excellent preservation and morphological variety of its stromatolitic outcrops--which provide comprehensive palaeontological information on a scale exceeding other rocks of such age. Here we present a multi-kilometre-scale palaeontological and palaeoenvironmental study of the SPC, in which we identify seven stromatolite morphotypes--many previously undiscovered--in different parts of a peritidal carbonate platform. We undertake the first morphotype-specific analysis of the structures within their palaeoenvironment and refute contemporary abiogenic hypotheses for their formation. Finally, we argue that the diversity, complexity and environmental associations of the stromatolites describe patterns that--in similar settings throughout Earth's history--reflect the presence of organisms.     

Evidence for recycled Archaean oceanic mantle lithosphere in the Azores plume

The compositional differences between mid-ocean-ridge and ocean-island basalts place important constraints on the form of mantle convection. Also, it is thought that the scale and nature of heterogeneities within plumes and the degree to which heterogeneous material endures within the mantle might be reflected in spatial variations of basalt composition observed at the Earth's surface. Here we report osmium isotope data on lavas from a transect across the Azores archipelago which vary in a symmetrical pattern across what is thought to be a mantle plume. Many of the lavas from the centre of the plume have lower 187Os/188Os ratios than most ocean-island basalts and some extend to subchondritic 187Os/188Os ratios-lower than any yet reported from ocean-island basalts. These low ratios require derivation from a depleted, harzburgitic mantle, consistent with the low-iron signature of the Azores plume. Rhenium-depletion model ages extend to 2.5 Gyr, and we infer that the osmium isotope signature is unlikely to be derived from Iberian subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Instead, we interpret the osmium isotope signature as having a deep origin and infer that it may be recycled, Archaean oceanic mantle lithosphere that has delaminated from its overlying oceanic crust. If correct, our data provide evidence for deep mantle subduction and storage of oceanic mantle lithosphere during the Archaean era.     

Chronology of the early Solar System from chondrule-bearing calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions

Chondrules and Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) are high-temperature components of meteorites that formed during transient heating events in the early Solar System. A major unresolved issue is the relative timing of CAI and chondrule formation. From the presence of chondrule fragments in an igneous CAI, it was concluded that some chondrules formed before CAIs (ref. 5). This conclusion is contrary to the presence of relict CAIs inside chondrules, as well as to the higher abundance of 26Al in CAIs; both observations indicate that CAIs pre-date chondrules by 1-3 million years (Myr). Here we report that relict chondrule material in the Allende meteorite, composed of olivine and low-calcium pyroxene, occurs in the outer portions of two CAIs and is 16O-poor (Delta17O approximately -1 per thousand to -5 per thousand). Spinel and diopside in the CAI cores are 16O-rich (Delta17O up to -20 per thousand), whereas diopside in their outer zones, as well as melilite and anorthite, are 16O-depleted (Delta17O = -8 per thousand to 2 per thousand). Both chondrule-bearing CAIs are 26Al-poor with initial 26Al/27Al ratios of (4.7 +/- 1.4) x 10(-6) and <1.2 x 10(-6). We conclude that these CAIs had chondrule material added to them during a re-melting episode approximately 2 Myr after formation of CAIs with the canonical 26Al/27Al ratio of 5 x 10(-5).     

河南老湾金矿床流体包裹体及稀土元素地球化学研究

老湾金矿床产于中元古界龟山组,主要岩性为二云石英片岩和斜长角闪片岩。矿体受NWW向的韧脆性构造和NE向及NW向的次级构造控制,呈似层状、层状和脉状产出。矿床流体包裹体研究表明,成矿流体具有中-低温度、低盐度和低密度特征;流体包裹体液相成分中富含K+、Na+,二者比值显示成矿流体主要为岩浆水。矿床、围岩和老湾花岗岩的稀土元素研究认为,成矿物质主要来源于围岩和花岗岩。     

Contemporaneous formation of chondrules and refractory inclusions in the early Solar System

Chondrules and calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs) are preserved materials from the early history of the Solar System, where they resulted from thermal processing of pre-existing solids during various flash heating episodes which lasted for several million years. CAIs are believed to have formed about two million years before the chondrules. Here we report the discovery of a chondrule fragment embedded in a CAI. The chondrule's composition is poor in 16O, while the CAI has a 16O-poor melilite (Ca, Mg, Al-Silicate) core surrounded by a 16O-rich igneous mantle. These observations, when combined with the previously reported CAI-bearing chondrules, strongly suggest that the formation of chondrules and CAIs overlapped in time and space, and that there were large fluctuations in the oxygen isotopic compositions in the solar nebula probably synchronizing astrophysical pulses.     

恢复地层剥蚀厚度的一种新方法——包裹体测温法

剥蚀厚度恢复是反演盆地埋藏史和油气生成史的前提条件.利用包裹体均一化温度恢复剥蚀厚度是一种较新的方法,依据所利用包裹体生成时期的不同,将该方法分为两类.分别阐述了该法的理论依据、原理、和应注意的问题,并给出了2个应用实例.研究表明,该法在某些情况下能恢复泥岩声波时差法等常规方法无法应用的地区;在多种方法可应用地区,该法恢复结果同其他方法具有一定的可比性.包裹体测温法具有原理简单、资料来源方便、成本低、周期短的优点.     

An Archaean heavy bombardment from a destabilized extension of the asteroid belt

The barrage of comets and asteroids that produced many young lunar basins (craters over 300 kilometres in diameter) has frequently been called the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB). Many assume the LHB ended about 3.7 to 3.8 billion years (Gyr) ago with the formation of Orientale basin. Evidence for LHB-sized blasts on Earth, however, extend into the Archaean and early Proterozoic eons, in the form of impact spherule beds: globally distributed ejecta layers created by Chicxulub-sized or larger cratering events4. At least seven spherule beds have been found that formed between 3.23 and 3.47?Gyr ago, four between 2.49 and 2.63?Gyr ago, and one between 1.7 and 2.1?Gyr ago. Here we report that the LHB lasted much longer than previously thought, with most late impactors coming from the E belt, an extended and now largely extinct portion of the asteroid belt between 1.7 and 2.1 astronomical units from Earth. This region was destabilized by late giant planet migration. E-belt survivors now make up the high-inclination Hungaria asteroids. Scaling from the observed Hungaria asteroids, we find that E-belt projectiles made about ten lunar basins between 3.7 and 4.1?Gyr ago. They also produced about 15 terrestrial basins between 2.5 and 3.7?Gyr ago, as well as around 70 and four Chicxulub-sized or larger craters on the Earth and Moon, respectively, between 1.7 and 3.7?Gyr ago. These rates reproduce impact spherule bed and lunar crater constraints.     

Science Letters： Discovery of ultrahigh-T spinel-garnet granulite with pure CO2 fluid inclusions from the Altay orogenic belt, NW China

We first report discovery of the spinel-garnet-orthopyroxene granulite with pure CO2 fluid inclusions from the Fuyun region of the late Paleozoic Altay orogenic belt in Central Asia, NW China. The rock is characterized by an assemblage of garnet, orthopyroxene, spinel, cordierite, biotite, plagioclase and quartz. Symplectites of orthopyroxene and spinel, and orthopyroxene and cordierite indicate decompression under UHT conditions. Mineral chemistry shows that the orthopyroxenes have high XMg and Al2O3 contents (up to 9.23 wt%). Biotites are enriched in TiO2 and XMg and are stable under granulite facies conditions. The garnet and quartz from the rock carry monophase fluid inclusions which show peak melting temperatures of around -56.7℃, indicating a pure CO2 species being presented during the ultrahigh-T metamorphism in the Altay orogenic belt. The inclusions homogenize into a liquid phase at temperatures around 15.3-23.8℃ translating into CO2 densities of the order of 0.86-0.88g/cm^3. Based on preliminary mineral paragenesis, reaction textures and petrogenetic grid considerations, we infer that the rock was subjected to UHT conditions. The CO2-rich fluids were trapped during exhumation along a clockwise P-T path following isothermal decompression under UHT conditions.     

Evidence from reversal of handedness in C. elegans embryos for early cell interactions determining cell fates

Many animals with overall bilateral symmetry also exhibit some left-right asymmetries with generally invariant handedness. Therefore, the left-right embryonic axis must have a consistent polarity, whose origins and subsequent effects on development are not understood. Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits such left-right asymmetries at all developmental stages. The embryonic cell lineage is asymmetric as well: although the animal is generally bilaterally symmetric, many of its contralaterally analogous cells arise from different lineages on the two sides of the embryo. I accomplished reversal of embryonic handedness by micromanipulation at the 6-cell stage, which resulted in mirror-image but otherwise normal development into healthy, fertile animals with all the usual left-right asymmetries reversed. This result demonstrates that in the 6-cell embryo the pair of anterior (AB) blastomeres on the right is equivalent to the pair on the left, and that the extensive differences in fates between lineally homologous derivatives of these cells on the two sides of the animal must be dictated by cell interactions, most of which are likely to occur early in embryogenesis.     

Evidence for deep-water production in the North Pacific Ocean during the early Cenozoic warm interval

The deep-ocean circulation is responsible for a significant component of global heat transport. In the present mode of circulation, deep waters form in the North Atlantic and Southern oceans where surface water becomes sufficiently cold and dense to sink. Polar temperatures during the warmest climatic interval of the Cenozoic era (approximately 65 to 40 million years (Myr) ago) were significantly warmer than today, and this may have been a consequence of enhanced oceanic heat transport. However, understanding the relationship between deep-ocean circulation and ancient climate is complicated by differences in oceanic gateways, which affect where deep waters form and how they circulate. Here I report records of neodymium isotopes from two cores in the Pacific Ocean that indicate a shift in deep-water production from the Southern Ocean to the North Pacific approximately 65 Myr ago. The source of deep waters reverted back to the Southern Ocean 40 Myr ago. The relative timing of changes in the neodymium and oxygen isotope records indicates that changes in Cenozoic deep-water circulation patterns were the consequence, not the cause, of extreme Cenozoic warmth.     

临清坳陷东部石炭-二叠系流体包裹体特征及油气充注期次研究

利用临清坳陷东部4口井35块石炭-二叠系储层样品对流体包裹体特征进行分析,通过流体包裹体显微鉴定、微束荧光光谱和均一温度测试等方法,结合埋藏史、热演化史及生排烃史模拟技术对临清坳陷石炭-二叠系油气充注期次进行研究。结果表明:有机包裹体以发弱黄色、弱蓝白色-白色荧光及不发荧光的气相包裹体为主,少见弱蓝绿色和弱蓝白色荧光的油包裹体,样品中检测到大量裂缝和孔隙沥青及沥青包裹体,早期油藏遭受破坏,以天然气成藏为主;石炭-二叠系至少存在5幕与油气成藏相关的流体活动;第一成藏期距今171～148.5 Ma,主要为油充注,第二到第四成藏期以天然气成藏为主,成藏期分别为距今141.9～95.7 Ma、51.0～33.1 Ma和19.7～2.5Ma,主要成藏期是古近纪以来的第三、四期,处于烃源岩大规模生烃期。     

Helium isotopic compositions in fluid inclusions of the Gangxi fault belt in the Huanghua Depression, Bohai Bay Basin

Helium is a trace constituent in natural gases and is the lightest element of all rare gases. Formed during natural nuclear processes, helium is chemically stable. Due to its strong diffusibility and permeability, helium can be used as a very sensitive tracer. Helium has two natural stable isotopes, 3He and 4He. 3He originates from the universal nebulae when the earth was formed, and 4He mainly originates from the radioactive disintegration of elements in the crust, such as U and Th [1]. In…     

青西凹陷下沟组湖相热水沉积岩中的重晶石流体包裹体特征

以地质背景和岩石组构分析为基础,对酒泉盆地青西凹陷下沟组湖相热水沉积岩中的重晶石矿物进行了流体包裹体研究.结果表明,重晶石胶结物中主要发育富液两相、含子矿物三相、单一液相和单一气相四类原生流体包裹体,碎屑状重晶石主要发育富液两相和少量单一液相包裹体.显微测温结果显示,重晶石胶结物和碎屑状重晶石的成矿流体为NaCl-H2O体系,温度分别为160～200℃和120～140℃,盐度(NaCl)分别为20%～22%和18%～20%,密度分别为1.06～1.2 g/cm3和1.06～1.11 g/cm3,成矿压力分别为150～180 MPa和30～45MPa.结合锶同位素分析,认为成矿流体属于深循环的下渗湖水与岩浆水共同构成的中低温、中高盐度和中偏高密度混合热卤水.成矿流体经历了早期阶段的热液沸腾作用和混合作用的叠加耦合而形成重晶石胶结物,较晚期阶段热液混合稀释沉淀作用则形成碎屑状重晶石.两者应属于同一热流体不同阶段和不同方式的化学沉淀产物,重晶石胶结物形成于喷流口内;碎殚屑状重晶石形成于相对远离喷流口的开放系统,有更多大气水(湖水)的注入而使得其热流体温度、盐度、密度和压力相比重晶石胶结物均有所下降.重晶石矿物流体特征和成因研究,可为研究区下沟组湖相热水沉积岩热流体性质、来源和成因分析奠定基础.     

苏里格地区下古生界储层流体包裹体特征及其成藏作用

为确定苏里格地区下古生界天然气充注时间和成藏期次,采用流体包裹体测试技术和分析方法,利用包裹体的均一温度,对该地区下古生界马家沟组储层流体包裹体样品进行了测试分析.苏里格地区下古生界储层中发育三类流体包裹体:盐水包裹体、含液态烃包裹体和液态烃包裹体.流体包裹体均一温度具有明显的双峰特征,两个峰值分别为95～110℃和145～155℃,这表明研究区下古生界天然气充注与成藏期次主要有两期.利用包裹体测试资料、结合埋藏史和热史综合分析表明苏里格地区下古生界天然气成藏时间为190～215 Ma和150～160 Ma,其中150～160 Ma(晚三叠世末-早侏罗世)是本区最重要的一次天然气成藏期.     

海安凹陷泰州组流体包裹体特征与油气成藏期次分析

分析了海安凹陷泰州组储层流体包裹体的特征及均一温度,结合圈闭形成时间和生排烃史确定了泰州组油气藏形成期次.样品中共发育2期成岩流体包裹体:Ⅰ期流体包裹体只有盐水包裹体,无有机包裹体,均一温度分布在65～75℃之间;Ⅱ期流体包裹体中盐水包裹体较发育,烃类包裹体多与盐水包裹体伴生,烃类包裹体为淡黄色和黄褐色,在荧光下呈淡黄...     

The role of microbial mats in the production of reduced gases on the early Earth.

The advent of oxygenic photosynthesis on Earth may have increased global biological productivity by a factor of 100-1,000 (ref. 1), profoundly affecting both geochemical and biological evolution. Much of this new productivity probably occurred in microbial mats, which incorporate a range of photosynthetic and anaerobic microorganisms in extremely close physical proximity. The potential contribution of these systems to global biogeochemical change would have depended on the nature of the interactions among these mat microorganisms. Here we report that in modern, cyanobacteria-dominated mats from hypersaline environments in Guerrero Negro, Mexico, photosynthetic microorganisms generate H2 and CO-gases that provide a basis for direct chemical interactions with neighbouring chemotrophic and heterotrophic microbes. We also observe an unexpected flux of CH4, which is probably related to H2-based alteration of the redox potential within the mats. These fluxes would have been most important during the nearly 2-billion-year period during which photosynthetic mats contributed substantially to biological productivity-and hence, to biogeochemistry-on Earth. In particular, the large fluxes of H2 that we observe could, with subsequent escape to space, represent a potentially important mechanism for oxidation of the primitive oceans and atmosphere.     

Evidence for anoxygenic photosynthesis from the distribution of bacteriochlorophylls in the Black Sea

The contribution of anoxygenic photosynthesis to carbon cycling in the Black Sea, the world's largest body of anoxic marine water, has been vigorously investigated and debated for over four decades. Penetration of light into the sulphide-containing deep water may result in a zone of anaerobic primary production by photosynthetic bacteria. We report here the results of analyses of photosynthetic pigments in samples of suspended particulate matter collected from two stations in the western basin of the Black Sea. Our data demonstrate high concentrations of a bacterio-chlorophyll at the chemocline, and thus the potential for anoxygenic photosynthesis as a component of primary production in the carbon cycle of the Black Sea. More than 95% of the pigments in the bacteriochlorophyll-maximum are accounted for by a series of aromatic carotenoids and bacteriochlorophylls-e, including a previously unreported geranyl ester of 4-i-butyl bacteriochlorophyll-e. The distribution of pigments is characteristic of the obligate phototrophs Chlorobium phaeobacteroides and C. phaeovibriodes. Total depth-integrated bacteriochlorophyll at one station exceeded total chlorophyll-a in the overlying oxygenated portion of the euphotic zone. We suggest that anoxygenic photosynthesis is a relatively recent phenomenon in the Black Sea initiated by shallowing of the chemocline over the past decade and development of an anoxic layer devoid of O2 and H2S.     

鄂尔多斯盆地下寺湾地区长2段储层流体包裹体特征及油气成藏

长2油层组为鄂尔多斯盆地下寺湾地区主要的含油气层段之一,为确定长2油层组油气的成藏时期,采用流体包裹体测试技术和分析方法,利用包裹体的均一温度,对该地区长2油层组储层流体包裹体样品进行了系统研究.通过对流体包裹体特征的分析,应用流体包裹体均一温度的资料,结合相应沉积埋藏史、热史和生烃史,探讨了下寺湾地区油气的运聚成藏历史.下寺湾地区长2油层组砂岩储层中发育三类流体包裹体:盐水包裹体、含液态烃包裹体和液态烃包裹体.与烃类包裹体共生的盐水包裹体均一温度具有明显的单峰特征,主要分布在105～115℃.根据埋藏史和热演化史分析结果,最终确定鄂尔多斯盆地下寺湾地区长2油层组油藏为一期成藏,其成藏时间距今110～125 Ma,为早白垩世晚期.