Journal
GEOLOGY
Volume 50, Issue 8, Pages 918-922Publisher
GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC
DOI: 10.1130/G49957.1
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Funding
- U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-Geological Society of America Graduate Student Geoscience Grant [1288720]
- NSF [1949901]
- NASA Exobiology Program [80NSSC18K1286]
- American Association of Petroleum Geologists
- Division Of Earth Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1949901] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Well-preserved primary fluid inclusions containing organic solids and liquids were found in the 830-million-year-old halite from central Australia. This discovery has important implications for the search for life in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial chemical sedimentary rocks.
Primary fluid inclusions in bedded halite from the 830-m.y.-old Browne Formation of central Australia contain organic solids and liquids, as documented with transmitted light and ultraviolet???visible (UV-vis) petrography. These objects are consistent in size, shape, and fluorescent response with cells of prokaryotes and eukaryotes and with organic compounds. This discovery shows that microorganisms from saline depositional environments can remain well preserved in halite for hundreds of millions of years and can be detected in situ with optical methods alone. This study has implications for the search for life in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial chemical sedimentary rocks.
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