Direct dating of 3.5 Ga biogenic carbon in a microbial mat remnant, Singhbhum Craton, India
Abstract
Zircons interpreted to be of syn-volcanic origin recovered from the lower greenschist “black and white banded” Bhitardari chert, Eastern Iron Ore greenstone belt, Singhbhum craton, India, yield a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb zircon age of 3497 ± 5 Ma ( n = 4; MSWD = 1.2). This chert contains abundant carbonaceous matter (CM) that occurs in two textural modes: 1) ultrafine laminae distributed within the matrix and 2) graphite flakes in late quartz veins. Bulk δ 13 C CM of both modes in the Bhitardari chert yield a value of −30.9‰, which we interpret as reflecting a biogenic origin. This represents the documentation of a directly dated, CM-bearing, Paleoarchean rock with δ 13 C CM diagnostic of biologic activity. The observed isotopic compositions are consistent with the rise of relatively sophisticated metabolic mechanisms (e.g., Calvin cycle) by 3.5 Ga.
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BibTeX
@article{chaudhuri2026direct,
title = {{Direct dating of 3.5 Ga biogenic carbon in a microbial mat remnant, Singhbhum Craton, India}},
author = {Trisrota Chaudhuri and T. Mark Harrison and Elizabeth A. Bell and Mark van Zuilen and Lena Thomas and Nouf Al Alawi and Rajat Mazumder and Stefan Lalonde},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2617912123},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05854077v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Direct dating of 3.5 Ga biogenic carbon in a microbial mat remnant, Singhbhum Craton, India
AU - Trisrota Chaudhuri
AU - T. Mark Harrison
AU - Elizabeth A. Bell
AU - Mark van Zuilen
AU - Lena Thomas
AU - Nouf Al Alawi
AU - Rajat Mazumder
AU - Stefan Lalonde
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2617912123
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05854077v1
AB - Zircons interpreted to be of syn-volcanic origin recovered from the lower greenschist “black and white banded” Bhitardari chert, Eastern Iron Ore greenstone belt, Singhbhum craton, India, yield a 207 Pb/ 206 Pb zircon age of 3497 ± 5 Ma ( n = 4; MSWD = 1.2). This chert contains abundant carbonaceous matter (CM) that occurs in two textural modes: 1) ultrafine laminae distributed within the matrix and 2) graphite flakes in late quartz veins. Bulk δ 13 C CM of both modes in the Bhitardari chert yield a value of −30.9‰, which we interpret as reflecting a biogenic origin. This represents the documentation of a directly dated, CM-bearing, Paleoarchean rock with δ 13 C CM diagnostic of biologic activity. The observed isotopic compositions are consistent with the rise of relatively sophisticated metabolic mechanisms (e.g., Calvin cycle) by 3.5 Ga.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -