Niches of the pre‐photosynthetic biosphere and geologic preservation of Earth's earliest ecology
Abstract
The tree of terrestrial life probably roots in non‐photosynthetic microbes. Chemoautotrophs were the first primary producers, and the globally dominant niches in terms of primary productivity were determined by availability of carbon dioxide and hydrogen for methanogenesis and sulfite reduction. Methanogen niches were most abundant where CO2‐rich ocean water flowed through serpentinite. Black smoker vents from basalt supplied comparable amount of H2. Hydrogen from arc volcanoes supported a significant methanogenic niche at the Earth's surface. SO2from arc volcanoes reacted with organic matter and hydrogen, providing a significant surface niche. Methane ascended to the upper atmosphere where photolysis produced C‐rich haze and CO, and H escaped into space. The CO and C‐rich haze supported secondary surface niches. None of these ecologies were bountiful; less than 1% of the CO2vented by ridge axes, arcs, and metamorphism became organic matter before it was buried in carbonate. In contrast, a photosynthetic biosphere leaves copious amounts of organic carbon, locally concentrated in sediments. Black shales are a classic geologic biosignature for photosynthesis that can survive subduction and high‐grade metamorphism.
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The dominant source of energy to Earth's primary producers is thought to be oxygenic photosynthesis.
“The dominant source of energy to Earth's primary producers (organisms that fix carbon dioxide into organic carbon, so forming the bottom of the food chain) is thought to be oxygenic photosynthesis (Sleep and Bird, 2007).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Sleep and Bird, 2007
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- Authors
- SLEEP, N. H., & BIRD, D. K.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- ORCID
- SLEEP, NORMAN H.
- Venue
- Geobiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-04-06
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 101-117
- ISSN
- 1472-4669 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-4677
- OpenAlex
- W2145772147
- Cited by
- 117
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geobiology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- NASA Astrobiology Institute
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
- Keywords
- chemoautotrophs, methanogenesis, sulfite reduction, serpentinite, black smokers, arc volcanoes, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane photolysis, atmospheric haze, organic carbon preservation, black shales, biosignatures, primary productivity
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