On Aug 7, 1:01 am, johac <jhachm...@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

More evidence that life may have begun under the sea.

---
New Fossils Support Deep-Sea Origin of Life

Dave Mosher
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.comMon Aug 6, 7:15 AM ET

Geologists have discovered 1.43 billion-year-old fossils of deep-sea
microbes, providing more evidence that life may have originated on the
bottom of the ocean.

The ancient black smoker chimneys, which scientists unearthed in a
Chinese mine, are 1 billion years older than similar fossils previously
identified and are nearly identical to the archaea- and
bacteria-harboring structures found today on sea beds.

"These are remnants of the oldest living types of life forms on the
planet," said Timothy Kusky, a geologist at Saint Louis University and
co-author of a new study that describes the fossils.

Kusky said that the fossils offer "tantalizing suggestions" that life
developed near deep-sea hydrothermal vents and not in shallow seas, as
other evidence hints.

Black smoker chimneys develop at submerged openings in the Earth's crust
that spew out mineral-rich water as hot as 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400
degrees Celsius). Bacteria that don't depend on sunlight or oxygen move
into the fragile chimneys that grow around the vents and feed on the
dissolved minerals.

"Some people like to call it life in extreme environments. These
bacteria pretty much live on a different planet compared to conditions
we live in," Kusky told LiveScience.

The stony chimneys can grow more 50 feet (15 meters) tall, but
retrieving even a modern chimney sample is extremely difficult, as
they're fragile and can crumble when touched.

"This discovery offers scientists valuable on-land samples for
geological and geo-biological research," Kusky said, noting that some of
the fossils he unearthed measure a whopping 3 feet in length.

The age and size of the chimneys, Kusky said, will help scientists
understand how ancient hydrothermal vent growth and the development of
life on the sea floor might be interconnected.

Although the fossils may be old, they aren't the oldest evidence of life
on Earth. The most ancient specimens are 3.5 billion-year-old,
dome-shaped clumps of bacteria called stromatolites, which were found in
western Australia and suggest that shallow seas were the birthplace of
life.

Ed Mathez, a geologist and curator at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York who is not connected to the discovery, said even
with stromatolites the verdict on life's origin is out.

"They tell us life existed that long ago, but as to where it originated
remains an open question," Mathez said.

Mathez pointed out that black smoker fossils are just as inconclusive
about the origin of life , but added that the new finding significantly
pushes back the known reign of deep-sea microbes.

"Personally, a deep-sea origin of life strikes me as a very good
possibility," he said.

In the end, Kusky said, there may yet be even older black smoker chimney
fossils waiting to be discovered.

"So far, these fossils provide oldest evidence for deep-sea life," he
said. His team's findings are detailed in the current issue of the
journal Gondwana Research.

---http://tinyurl.com/3cbbhg
--
John #1782

"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."

- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.

Nice one, JH!

Budikka

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:01:15 -0700, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:

More evidence that life may have begun under the sea.

---
New Fossils Support Deep-Sea Origin of Life

Dave Mosher
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.comMon Aug 6, 7:15 AM ET

Geologists have discovered 1.43 billion-year-old fossils of deep-sea
microbes, providing more evidence that life may have originated on the
bottom of the ocean.

How could that be, pray tell?
The Centre of the Universe is only 6,000 years old, you minion of
Beelzebub!