The role of early Archean Terrestrial Environments in Weathering, Sediment Transport, and the Colonization of Land

早期太古代陆地环境在风化、沉积物迁移和土地殖民中的作用

• 批准号: 404692110
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Christoph Heubeck
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Geowissenschaften
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Priority Programmes
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2017-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/404692110?language=en
• 关键词: role; early; Archean; Terrestrial; Environments

Archean terrestrial strata preserve a unique and potentially valuable record which allows to constrain the history of interaction between geo-, bio and atmosphere: It includes conditions of paleosol formation, intensity and type of weathering and processes of sediment generation and maturation. The oldest preserved (microbial) traces of early life on land bear on fundamental geo-bio-interactions such as mechanism and degree of nutrient delivery, strategies of radiation avoidance, and atmospheric composition. Eolian strata may convey unique environmental parameters such as local wind strength and atmospheric density, with implications for aridity and circulatory systems. Lastly, terrestrial evaporites relate to temperature, evaporation and groundwater movement. Although Archean terrestrial depositional systems are rare and generally poorly preserved for a number of reasons, their potential value warrants their detailed investigation. I suggest the topical investigation of the Early Archean (3.22 Ga) Moodies Group, South Africa from which the world’s oldest purportedly eolian strata have been reported. Our preliminary surveys have documented microbial mats, evaporite concretions, and a sedimentary breccia unit but to-date been unsuccessful in confirming eolian strata. Geological mapping, section measuring, textural studies, evaporite analysis and sandstone petrography will constrain the terrestrial settings, improve our understanding of Archean terrestrial processes and constrain related SPP research projects. Insights may even extend to conditions on Mars where aqueous environments were (and are) far more tenuous.

Archean陆地阶层保留了独特且潜在的有价值的记录，该记录允许限制地理，生物和大气之间的相互作用历史：它包括古生物形成的条件，强度和风化的强度和类型以及沉积物产生和成熟的过程。陆地上早期生命最古老的（微生物）痕迹在基本的地质生命互动上，例如机制和营养递送程度，避免辐射的策略和大气组成。 Eolian地层可能会传达独特的环境参数，例如局部风强度和大气密度，对干旱和电路系统产生影响。最后，陆地蒸发与温度，蒸发和地下水运动有关。尽管大古老的地面沉积系统很少见，并且由于多种原因保存不足，但其潜在价值需要详细的研究。我建议对南非早期的穆斯蒂（3.22 GA）穆斯蒂组进行拓扑调查，据报道，世界上最古老的Eolian地层。我们的初步调查记录了微生物垫，蒸发液混凝土和沉积的角砾岩单元，但迄今为止的日期未能确认Eolian地层。地质映射，部分测量，纹理研究，蒸发物分析和砂岩岩石学将限制陆地环境，改善我们对大帝陆地过程的理解，并限制相关的SPP研究项目。洞察力甚至可能扩展到水性环境（并且）更脆弱的火星条件。