研究人员发现来自澳大利亚Pilbara克拉通，35亿年前的黑燧石矿脉系统中含有丰富的迁移有机碳残留物。利用较年轻的类似物，该团队认为黑色燧石是在矿脉系统中富含硅的含碳热液和近端海底沉积物中沉淀形成的。考虑到火山环境和缺乏富含有机物的沉积物，研究人员推测，火山口-丘系统含有来自底层镁铁质-超镁铁质熔岩中岩石动力有机合成的碳，提供了一个充斥着陆地有机化合物的生物起源前世界的一瞥。
据悉，碳是生命的关键元素，它在古代沉积岩中的起源是关于生命出现和早期进化问题的核心。最古老的保存完好的碳存在于35亿年前的黑燧石中，形成了类似化石的结构。碳质物质，与源自底层玄武质-科马提岩熔岩的热液燧石-重晶石喷口系统有关，被认为来自微生物生命。
附：英文原文
Title: Organic carbon generation in 3.5-billion-year-old basalt-hosted seafloor hydrothermal vent systems
Author: Birger Rasmussen, Janet R. Muhling
Issue&Volume: 2023-02-01
Abstract: Carbon is the key element of life, and its origin in ancient sedimentary rocks is central to questions about the emergence and early evolution of life. The oldest well-preserved carbon occurs with fossil-like structures in 3.5-billion-year-old black chert. The carbonaceous matter, which is associated with hydrothermal chert-barite vent systems originating in underlying basaltic-komatiitic lavas, is thought to be derived from microbial life. Here, we show that 3.5-billion-year-old black chert vein systems from the Pilbara Craton, Australia contain abundant residues of migrated organic carbon. Using younger analogs, we argue that the black cherts formed during precipitation from silica-rich, carbon-bearing hydrothermal fluids in vein systems and vent-proximal seafloor sediments. Given the volcanic setting and lack of organic-rich sediments, we speculate that the vent-mound systems contain carbon derived from rock-powered organic synthesis in the underlying mafic-ultramafic lavas, providing a glimpse of a prebiotic world awash in terrestrial organic compounds.
DOI: add7925
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add7925