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Iron Isotope Biosignatures
Abstract
The 56 Fe/ 54 Fe of Fe-bearing phases precipitated in sedimentary environments varies by 2.5 per mil (δ 56 Fe values of +0.9 to −1.6 per mil). In contrast, the 56 Fe/ 54 Fe of Fe-bearing phases in igneous rocks from Earth and the moon does not vary measurably (δ 56 Fe = 0.0 ± 0.3 per mil). Experiments with dissimilatory Fe-reducing bacteria of the genus Shewanella algae grown on a ferrihydrite substrate indicate that the δ 56 Fe of ferrous Fe in solution is isotopically lighter than the ferrihydrite substrate by 1.3 per mil. Therefore, the range in δ 56 Fe values of sedimentary rocks may reflect biogenic fractionation, and the isotopic composition of Fe may be used to trace the distribution of microorganisms in modern and ancient Earth.
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Cited by
Bekker, A., Slack, J. F., Planavsky, N., Krapez, B., Hofmann, A., Konhauser, K. O., & Rouxel, O. J. (2010) · Economic Geology · doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.105.3.467 · Cited by 1,013
Spectroscopic Evidence for Fe(II)−Fe(III) Electron Transfer at the Iron Oxide−Water Interface
Williams, A. G. B., & Scherer, M. M. (2004) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es049373g · Cited by 532
Iron-Source Preference of Staphylococcus aureus Infections
Skaar, E. P., Humayun, M., Bae, T., DeBord, K. L., & Schneewind, O. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1099930 · Cited by 440
High precision Fe isotope measurements with high mass resolution MC-ICPMS
Weyer, S., & Schwieters, J. B. (2003) · International Journal of Mass Spectrometry · doi:10.1016/s1387-3806(03)00078-2 · Cited by 398
Geomicrobiology of Caves: A Review
E. Northup, K. H. L. (2001) · Geomicrobiology Journal · doi:10.1080/01490450152467750 · Cited by 396
Metadata
- Authors
- Beard, B. L., Johnson, C. M., Cox, L., Sun, H., Nealson, K. H., & Aguilar, C.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1999-09-17
- Volume
- 285
- Issue
- 5435
- Pages
- 1889-1892
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2061338944
- Cited by
- 405
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 12.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Beard, B. L., Johnson, C. M., Cox, L., Sun, H., Nealson, K. H., & Aguilar, C. (1999). Iron Isotope Biosignatures. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5435.1889
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