Geology and Minerals

Archean life in the Barberton Greenstone Belt

The Barberton Greenstone Belt of eastern South Africa contains some of the most widely accepted fossil evidence for Archean life. These cell-sized prokaryote fossils are seen in the Barberton fossil record in rocks as old as 3.5 billion years. The Barberton Greenstone Belt is an excellent place to study the Archean Earth due to exposed sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks. Studying the earliest forms of life on Earth can provide valuable information to help understand how life can evolve on other planets. It has long been hypothesized that life may have existed on Mars due to the similarity of environmental and tectonic conditions during the Archean time. By knowing the environments in which early life evolved on Earth, and the rock types that preserve them, scientists can have a better understanding of where to look for life on Mars.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Brine
• ▸Chambéry Cathedral
• ▸Granulite

Uncatalogued shelf

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