The Fig Tree Formation, also called Fig Tree Group, is a stromatolite-containing geological formation in South Africa. The rock contains fossils of microscopic life forms of about 3.26 billion years old. Identified organisms include the bacterium Eobacterium isolatum and the algae-like Archaeosphaeroides barbertonensis. The fossils in the Fig Tree Formation are considered some of the oldest known organisms on Earth, and provide evidence that life may have existed much earlier than previously thought. The formation is composed of shales, turbiditic greywackes, volcaniclastic sandstones, chert, turbiditic siltstone, conglomerate, breccias, mudstones, and iron-rich shales.
Meteorite Impact
This formation also contains evidence of the biggest known meteorite impact on earth [1].
See also
Further reading
- "Fig Tree microfossils". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2016. Retrieved Oct 9, 2016.
- Byerly G.R., Lower D.R. & Walsh M.M. (1986). Stromatolites from the 3300–3500-Myr Swaziland Supergroup, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. Nature, 319: 489–491.
References
2015 - Brown - Exploring the Evolution of Oxygen on the Early Earth: Constraining the Evolution of Oxidative Phosphorylation Through the Utilization of Uranium Isotopes https://earth.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Brown_Christian_Thesis.pdf ↩
Barberton geological field mapping report 2012 http://adammbedzi.yolasite.com/resources/Barberton%20Geological%20Field%20Mapping%202012.pdf ↩