Archean Earth history is very difficult to reconstruct. Until recently, only bacterial cells preserved in chert, microborings, and stromatolites provided the few clues to ancient life. Now, siliciclastic "microbially induced sedimentary structures" (MISS) are adding to our knowledge of both past life and paleo-environments. MISS rise from the interaction of photoauto-trophic microbial mats with physical sediment dynamics in siliciclastic, shallow-marine settings. Archean MISS can be understood through observations of living microbial mats and modern biotic-physical sedimentary processes. Such geobiological studies are key to the interpretation of the early evolution of prokaryotes. For example, the 2.9 Ga Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, includes MISS that possibly point to the oldest known cyanobacterial community preserved in Earth's history.
展开▼
机译：太古代的历史很难重建。直到最近，只有保存在石，微孔和叠层石中的细菌细胞才为古代生活提供了一些线索。现在，硅质碎屑“微生物诱导的沉积结构”（MISS）正在增加我们对过去生活和古环境的了解。 MISS源自光自养微生物垫与硅质碎屑浅海环境中物理沉积动力学的相互作用。通过观察活的微生物垫和现代生物物理沉积过程可以了解太古代的MISS。此类地质生物学研究是解释原核生物早期进化的关键。例如，南非的2.9 Ga Pongola超级群包括MISS，它可能指向地球历史上保存最久的已知蓝细菌群落。
展开▼
