Carbon isotopic studies of organic matter in precambrian rocks

Reduced carbon in early Precambrian cherts of the Fig Tree and upper and middle Onverwacht groups of South Africa is isotopically similar (the average value of delta(13)C(PDB) is -28.7 per mil) to photosynthetically produced organic matter of younger geological age. Reduced carbon in lower Onverwacht cherts (Theespruit formation) is anomalously heavy (the average value of delta(13)C(PDB) is -16.5 per mil). This discontinuity may reflect a major event in biological evolution.     

Rhenium-osmium isotope systematics of carbonaceous chondrites

Rhenium and osmium concentrations and Os isotopic compositions of eight carbonaceous chondrites, one LL3 ordinary chondrite, and two iron meteorites were determined by resonance ionization mass spectrometry. Iron meteorite (187)Re/(186)Os and (l87)Os/(l86)Os ratios plot on the previously determined iron meteorite isochron, but most chondrite data plot 1 to 2 percent above this meteorite isochron. This suggests either that irons have significantly younger Re-Os closure ages than chondrites or that chondrites were formed from precursor materials with different chemical histories from the precursors of irons. Some samples of Semarkona (LL3) and Murray (C2M) meteorites plot 4 to 6 percent above the iron meteorite isochron, well above the field delineated by other chondrites. Murray may have lost Re by aqueous leaching during its preterrestrial history. Semarkona could have experienced a similar loss of Re, but only slight aqueous alteration is evident in the meteorite. Therefore, the isotopic composition of Semarkona could reflect assembly of isotopically heterogeneous components subsequent to 4.55 billion years ago or Os isotopic heterogeneities in the primordial solar nebula.     

The composition of phobos: evidence for carbonaceous chondrite surface from spectral analysis

A reflectance spectrum of Phobos (from 200 to 1100 nanometers) has been compiled from the Mariner 9 ultraviolet spectrometer, Viking lander imaging, and ground-based photometric data. The reflectance of the martian satellite is approximately constant at 5 percent from 1100 to 400 nanometers but drops sharply below 400 nanometers, reaching a value of 1 percent at 200 nanometers. The spectral albedo of Phobos bears a striking resemblance to that of asteroids (1) Ceres and (2) Pallas. Comparison of the reflectance spectra of asteroids with those of meteorites has shown that the spectral signature of Ceres is indicative of a carbonaceous chondritic composition. A physical explanation of how the compositional information is imposed on the reflectance spectrum is given. On the basis of a good match between the reflectance spectra of Phobos and Ceres and the extensive research that has been done to infer the composition of Ceres, it seems reasonable to believe that the surface composition of Phobos is similar to that of carbonaceous chondrites. This suggestion is consistent with the recently determined low density of Mars's inner satellite. Our result and recent Viking noble gas measurements suggest different modes of origin for Mars and Phobos.     

Primitive boron isotope composition of the mantle

Boron isotope ratios are homogeneous in volcanic glasses of oceanic island basalts [-9.9 +/- 1.3 per mil, relative to standard NBS 951 (defined by the National Bureau of Standards)], whereas mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORBs) and back-arc basin basalts (BABBs) show generally higher and more variable ratios. Melts that have assimilated even small amounts of altered basaltic crust show significant variations in the boron isotope ratios. Assimilation may thus account for the higher boron ratios of MORBs and BABBs. A budget of boron between mantle and crust implies that the primitive mantle had a boron isotope ratio of -10 +/- 2 per mil and that this ratio was not fractionated significantly during the differentiation of the mantle.     

Alga-like fossils from the early precambrian of South Africa

Micropaleontological studies of carbonaceouis chert from the Fig Tree Series of South Africa (> 3.1 x 10(9) years old) revealed the presence of spheroidal microfossils, here designated Archaeosphaeroides barbertonensis, interpreted as probably representing the remnants of unicellular alga-like organisms. The presumed photosynthetic nature of these primitive microorganisms seems corroborated by organic geochemical and carbon isotopic studies of the Fig Tree organic matter, and is consistent with the geologically and mineralogically indicated Early Precambrian environment. These alga-like spheroids, together with a bacterium-like organism previously described from the Fig Tree chert, are the oldest fossil orgisms now known.     

A component of primitive nuclear composition in carbonaceous meteorites

The oxygen of anhydrous, high-temperature minerals in carbonaceous meteorites is strongly depleted in the heavy stable isotopes (17)O and (18)O. The effect is the result of nuclear rather than chemical processes and probably results from the admixture of a component of almost pure (16)O. This component may predate the solar system and may represent interstellar dust with a separate history of nucleosynthesis.     

Microorganisms from the late precambrian of the grand canyon, Arizona

An assemblage of cellularly well-preserved, filamentous and spheroidal plant microfossils has been detected in a cherty pisolite bed of the late Precambrian Chuar Group from the eastern Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. This newly discovered microflora, probably among the youngest Precambrian biological communities now known, appears to be of both evolutionary and biostratigraphic significance.     

Microorganisms three billion years old from the precambrian of South Africa

A minute, bacterium-like, rod-shaped organism, Eobacterium isolatum, has been found organically and structurally preserved in black chert from the Fig Tree Series (3.1 x 10(9) years old) of South Africa. Filamentous organic structures of probable biological origin, and complex alkanes, which apparently contain small amounts of the isoprenoid hydrocarbons pristane and phytane, are also indigenous to this Early Precambrian sediment. These organic remnants comprise the oldest known evidence of biological organization in the geologic record.     

The chlorine isotope composition of Earth's mantle

Chlorine stable isotope compositions (delta37Cl) of 22 mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) correlate with Cl content. The high-delta37Cl, Cl-rich basalts are highly contaminated by Cl-rich materials (seawater, brines, or altered rocks). The low-delta37Cl, Cl-poor basalts approach the composition of uncontaminated, mantle-derived magmas. Thus, most or all oceanic lavas are contaminated to some extent during their emplacement. MORB-source mantle has delta37Cl 相似文献   

Chitinozoans from the late precambrian chuar group of the grand canyon, Arizona

Carbonaceous shales of the late Precambrian Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, contain abundant and well-preserved chitinozoans. The occurrence of these distinctive, tear- and flask-shaped microfossils, the oldest chitinozoans now known and the first to be reported from the Precambrian, seems to suggest that heterotrophic protists (or primitive metaozoans) were extant at least as early as about 750 +/- 100 million years ago.     

Late glacial climate record of midwestern United States from the hydrogen isotope ratio of lake organic matter

A hydrogen isotope time series obtained from an analysis of organic matter extracted from a lake core in Kalamazoo, southwestern Michigan, reveals four distinct isotope stages within the last 12,000 years that can be interpreted in terms of oscillations between cold and warm, dry climates. The most dramatic are a cold phase between 12,000 and 9000 years before present (B.P.), a warm, dry period between 8500 and 2000 years B.P., a cold period between 2000 and 1000 years B.P., and a warming trend since 1000 years B.P. The warming trend of the last 1000 years is comparable in magnitude to the mid-Holocene warm phase.     

Neodymium isotope evidence for a chondritic composition of the Moon

Samarium-neodymium isotope data for six lunar basalts show that the bulk Moon has a 142Nd/144Nd ratio that is indistinguishable from that of chondritic meteorites but is 20 parts per million less than most samples from Earth. The Sm/Nd formation interval of the lunar mantle from these data is 215(-21)(+23) million years after the onset of solar system condensation. Because both Earth and the Moon likely formed in the same region of the solar nebula, Earth should also have a chondritic bulk composition. In order to mass balance the Nd budget, these constraints require that a complementary reservoir with a lower 142Nd/144Nd value resides in Earth's mantle.     

稳定性碳同位素在揭示环境变化中的应用

植物组织中的稳定性碳同位素组成(δ13C)整合记录了气候因子和影响植物碳同化以及气孔导度的生理因子的相关信息。应用稳定碳同位素技术可以揭示环境变化中的一些相关信息。回顾了不同的环境因子和植物δ13C的关系,以及这些关系在气候变化研究中的应用,同时进一步讨论了这项技术在重建历史气候和预测未来气候变化中的作用。     

Ediacaran (precambrian) fossils from the wernecke mountains, northwestern Canada

Fossil medusoids identified as Cyclomedusa davidi?, Beltanelliformis brunsae, and cf. Sekwia excentrica are reported from Late Precambrian strata in the Wernecke Mountains. They are representatives of the Ediacaran fauna, the oldest assemblage of cosmopolitan metazoans, and are only the third such occurrence in Canada. In addition, specimens broadly resembling the problematic structure Rugoinfractus ovruchensis, previously known only from the Precambrian of the Ukraine, are reported from the Lower Cambrian of the nearby Mackenzie Mountains.     

Carbon isotope fractionation in the Fischer-tropsch synthesis and in meteorites

Carbon dioxide and organic compounds made by a Fischer-Tropsch reaction at 400 degrees K show a kinetic isotope fractionation of 50 to 100 per mil, similar to that observed in carbonaceous chondrites. This result supports the view that organic compounds in meteorites were produced by catalytic reactions between carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the solar nebula.     

Microfossils in conophyton from the soviet union and their bearing on precambrian biostratigraphy

Silicified specimens of the Vendian (late Precambrian) "index fossil" Conophyton gaubitza from South Kazakstan contain a diverse assemblage of well-preserved cyanophytic and apparently eukaryotic algae, the first stromatolitic microbiota to be reported from the Soviet Union. Unlike the stromatolites in which they occur, the microorganisms that apparently built this form of Conophyton did not become extinct at the end of the Precambrian.     

Multicolor observations of phobos with the viking lander cameras: evidence for a carbonaceous chondritic composition

The reflectivity of Phobos has been determined in the spectral region from 0.4 to 1.1 micrometers from images taken with a Viking lander camera. The reflectivity curve is flat in this spectral interval and the geometric albedo equals 0.05 +/- 0.01. These results, together with Phobos's reflectivity spectrum in the ultraviolet, are compared with laboratory spectra of carbonaceous chondrites and basalts. The spectra of carbonaceous chondrites are consistent with the observations, whereas the basalt spectra are not. These findings raise the possibility that Phobos may be a captured object rather than a natural satellite of Mars.     

Hematite nanospheres of possible colloidal origin from a precambrian banded iron formation

Exceptionally small spheres (nanospheres) of hematite (diameters between 120 and 200 nanometers) occur in the Marra Mamba Iron Formation of the Hamersley Basin, Australia. The nanospheres are clustered into small aggregates and may have formed by structural ordering and dehydration of colloidal iron hydroxide particles. Individual spheres consist of numerous thin, curved hematite platelets surrounding a central void that is approximately half the diamter of the sphere; this texture suggests that they formed by a volume reduction of the original colloidal particles by approximately 12.5%. The occurrence of hematite nanospheres supports the hypothesis that some ofthe iron was deposited colloidally during the development ofbanded iron formations, approximately 2.5 billion years ago.