The DOI matches its Crossref record; 32 of the 32 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Early Archaean Microorganisms Preferred Elemental Sulfur, Not Sulfate
Abstract
Microscopic sulfides with low 34 S/ 32 S ratios in marine sulfate deposits from the 3490-million-yearold Dresser Formation, Australia, have been interpreted as evidence for the presence of early sulfate-reducing organisms on Earth. We show that these microscopic sulfides have a mass-independently fractionated sulfur isotopic anomaly (Δ 33 S) that differs from that of their host sulfate (barite). These microscopic sulfides could not have been produced by sulfate-reducing microbes, nor by abiologic processes that involve reduction of sulfate. Instead, we interpret the combined negative δ 34 S and positive Δ 33 S signature of these microscopic sulfides as evidence for the early existence of organisms that disproportionate elemental sulfur.
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“It is furthermore supported by geochemical isotope evidence that attests to the existence of processes performed by sulfate reducers—sulfate/sulfite reduction and sulfur disproportionation—in the early Archaean era, around 3.4 billion years ago [173–175].”
From Early bioenergetic evolution (2013) · cites this paper as [174]
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Zero-valent sulphur is a key intermediate in marine methane oxidation
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Metadata
- Authors
- Philippot, P., Van Zuilen, M., Lepot, K., Thomazo, C., Farquhar, J., & Van Kranendonk, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Equipe Géobiosphère Actuelle et Primitive, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS and Université Denis Diderot, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris cedex, France.
- Corresponding author
- Philippot, Pascal
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2007-09-14
- Volume
- 317
- Issue
- 5844
- Pages
- 1534-1537
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2049155474
- Cited by
- 365
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 17.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)) (submittedVersion)
- 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 › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Keywords
- elemental sulfur, sulfur isotopes, sulfate-reducing bacteria, Dresser Formation, barite, early Earth, microbial sulfur cycling
- MeSH terms
- Australia, Barium Sulfate, Cold Climate, Hydrogen Sulfide, Oxidation-Reduction, Sulfates, Sulfur, Sulfur Isotopes, Temperature, Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria, Geologic Sediments
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