Terraces near Flamencos Lagoon in the southeastern Salar de Pajonales (Chile), located at 3,517 m above sea level in the arid Altiplano, host relic gypsum stromatolites and crusts formed under […]
Life emerged on Earth in an ultramafic world under anaerobic conditions and conditioned by particular environmental characteristics for which no record remains.
During the Precambrian, stromatolite reefs played an essential role in the evolution of Earth’s climate and life systems. Many Precambrian basins contain salt-influenced stratigraphy, yet the potential for salt diapirism […]
South Africa is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, contained in rocky, often layered outcroppings called microbialites. Like coral reefs, these complex “living rocks” are […]
![The Köröm thermal well green [KG] biofilm sample and its two isolated layers. Close-up photo (left) of a cross-section of the green [KG] biofilm sample. The sample shows an exterior (upper panel), greenish blue colour [KGA] and an interior (lower panel), pale green colour [KGB] layer. The red arrows mark carbonate precipitates. -- Eötvös Loránd University](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Adaptation-to-Extreme-Conditions.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Hungarian researchers have discovered unique bacterial communities in thermal waters that may help unravel the development of stromatolites, one of Earth’s oldest rock formations. These findings not only contribute to […]
By Emma Caton — In the depths of remote Antarctic lakes, communities of microorganisms are thriving where few life forms can survive.
The Pilbara in northwestern Australia exposes some of the oldest rocks on Earth, over 3.6 billion years old. The iron-rich rocks formed before the presence of atmospheric oxygen, and life […]
Microbial mats are biodiverse communities within which multiple functional groups of microbes combine to capture, sequester and recycle nutrients and energy. They are one of the earliest known and organized […]
Stromatolites are the earliest geological record of life on Earth. These curious biotic structures are made of algae carpets growing toward the light and precipitating carbonates.
This stromatolite formed about 2.7 billion years ago and was collected from an ancient lake environment preserved in the Tumbiana Formation, a succession of clastic and carbonate rocks outcropping along […]
