Open AccessDeciphering Earth's Deep History: Drilling in Africa's Oldest Greenstone Belt
Author(s) -
Grosch Eugene G.,
McLoughlin Nicola,
Wit Maarten,
Furnes Harald
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2009eo400002
Subject(s) - archean , earth science , early earth , astrobiology , plate tectonics , earth (classical element) , geology , volcano , lava , tectonics , atmosphere (unit) , planet , venus , greenstone belt , paleontology , geography , meteorology , mathematical physics , physics , astrophysics
Earth's early evolution and the conditions under which life first emerged are highly controversial topics. Did Venus‐type tectonics dominate the early Earth, with vast landscapes of hot spot volcanoes belching lava and gases into a tenuous carbon dioxide/methane‐rich atmosphere, or was plate tectonics already in operation? Debates rage about when water first became dominant across Earth's surface, the temperatures and depths of early oceans, and when the first protocontinents began to form. These large uncertainties confound scientists' understanding of ecological niches available for the emergence of simple life, and a quantifiable image of the early Archean world is still missing.