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The biological cycling of phosphorus on Earth could be as early as the origin of life in early Archean. However, because of the low abundance and fine particle size, phosphate related to microbial ecophysiological activities in early sedimentary rocks, especially those deposited before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE, ca. 2.45-2.32 Ma), is still poorly addressed. It is not until recently that certain petrographic and mineralogical features of apatite in the early Precambrian sedimentary rocks were found related to microbial activities. In this study, we report high-resolution electron microscopic investigations on apatite from the Neoarchean to early Paleoproterozoic banded iron formations (BIFs), Mesoproterozoic to Lower Cambrian black shale and phosphorites, and Pliocene sediments. Apatite in BIFs occurs as 4-8 mm radial flowers with “petals” made of apatite rods. Their mineralogical and petrologic features are highly similar to those in the younger sedimentary rocks in which biomass have been confirmed to play an important role in the mineralization of phosphate. We suggest that these sedimentary rocks or sediments have experienced similar phosphogenetic processes mediated by biomass that led to the mineralization of phosphorus. The formation and preservation of phosphate (apatite) with conspicuous recognizable features in association with biological activities from Late Archean to Pliocene implies its universal significance in recording microbial processes through deep geological evolution. With mild dynamic processes, the martian (sub)surface has better preservation conditions than Earth, and the micro-structure of phosphate formed in environments mediated by microorganisms could be recognized by high-resolution observations on the surface of Mars or returned samples, if microbial life ever developed on Mars.

american mineralogist

What Lurks in the Martian Rocks and Soil? Investigations of Sulfates, 					Phosphates, and Perchlorates. Flower-like apatite recording microbial processes 					through deep geological time and its implication to the search for mineral 					records of life on Mars