Antiquity of the biological sulphur cycle: evidence from sulphur and carbon isotopes in 2700 million–year–old rocks of the Belingwe Belt, Zimbabwe

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2001-01, Vol.268 (1463), p.113-119
• Main Authors: Grassineau, N. V., Nisbet, E. G., Bickle, M. J., Fowler, C. M. R., Lowry, D., Mattey, D. P., Abell, P., Martin, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Archaea - metabolism; Archaean; Bacteria; Belingwe Greenstone Belt; Carbon; Carbon Isotopes - analysis; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Geology; Metabolism; Oxidation; Paleontology; Photosynthesis; Sea water; Sediments; Stromatolites; Sulfur; Sulfur - metabolism; Sulfur Isotopes - analysis; Sulphur Cycle; Sulphur Isotopes; Zimbabwe
• ISSN: 0962-8452; 1471-2954
• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2000.1338

Sulphur and carbon isotopic analyses on small samples of kerogens and sulphide minerals from biogenic and non-biogenic sediments of the 2.7 × 109 years(Ga)-old Belingwe Greenstone Belt (Zimbabwe) imply that a complex biological sulphur cycle was in operation. Sulphur isotopic compositions display a wider range of biological fractionation than hitherto reported from the Archaean. Carbon isotopic values in kerogen record fractionations characteristic of rubisco activity, methanogenesis and methylotrophy, and possibly anoxygenic photosynthesis. Carbon and sulphur isotopic fractionations have been interpreted in terms of metabolic processes in 2.7Ga prokaryote mat communities, and indicate the operation of a diverse array of metabolic processes. The results are consistent with models of early molecular evolution derived from ribosomal RNA.