Evidence for Life in the Oldest Known Sedimentary Rocks—the Onverwacht Series Chert, Swaziland System of Southern Africa
Open Access
- 1 April 1971
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Grana
- Vol. 11 (1) , 1-8
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00173137109427403
Abstract
The insoluble organic matter in samples of the Onverwacht and Fig-tree Cherts (Swaziland System of Southern Africa) and the Nonesuch Shale (Michigan, USA), a Carboniferous megaspore (Valvisisporites auritus) and microfossil planktonic algae (Tasmanites), has been examined by techniques of infra-red spectroscopy, pyrolysis gas chromatography, capillary column gas chromatography of the products from ozonolysis degradation, potash fusion and thin layer chromatography. The materials were shown to have a common chemical identity with sporopollenin derived from modern pollen, spores, algal and fungal spore walls, and some synthetic analogues prepared by the oxidative polymerisation of carotenoids. These objective experiments confirm and complement the evidence for the presence of micro-organisms in early Pre-cambrian rocksKeywords
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