| タイトル | Use of Molecular Fossils for the Interpretation of Paleoenvironments on Early Earth: The Synthesis of Lipid Biomarkers by Methane-Oxidizing Bacteria |
| 著者（英） | Chang, Sherwood; Jahnke, Linda L.; Summons, Roger E. |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Ames Research Center |
| 発行日 | 1994-01-01 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | Over the course of Earth's history, the most important biological influence has come from the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis and the development of an oxygen-rich biosphere. Although the availability of free oxygen had profound effects on subsequent biological and planetary evolution, clear paleobiological evidence of the timing of this transition is lacking. Recent technical advances in the microanalysis of organic matter has made it possible to detect residual molecules (biomarkers) in proterozoic (2.5 to 0.6 billion years) sedimentary rock characteristic of specific groups of microorganisms. When coupled with the carbon isotopic fractionations characteristic of biological systems and the new field of compound specific isotope analysis, biomarkers could prove to be a powerful tool for decoding ancient biochemistry from the geological record. We have been studying the carbon isotope fractionations associated with the synthesis of organic biomarker molecules in several types of methane-oxidizing bacteria that should have been key to carbon cycling in paleoenvironments after the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. |
| NASA分類 | Geophysics |
| 権利 | No Copyright |
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