Oldest fossils discovered in Greenland

a. Greenland

b. Iceland

c. Finland

d. England

 

Scientists have discovered the oldest fossils in the world aged about 3.7 billions years which pushed back the previous record by 220 million years and captures the earliest history of the planet.

• The team discovered the 3.7 billion year old stromatolite fossils in the world’s oldest sedimentary rocks in Isua Greenstone Belt along the edge of Greenland’s ice cap
• Discovery of these fossils provide deep understanding of early diversity of life on Earth which could have implications for understanding Martian life forms.
• Fossils predate the previous oldest stromatolite fossils in Western Australia by 220 million years
• Discovery pushes back the fossil record to near the start of the Earth’s geographical record and points to evidence of life on earth very early in history
• Isua stromatolites which were exposed by recent melting of a perennial snow path were laid down in shallow sea providing the first evidence of environment in which early life grew
• For much of earth’s history, life was just single cells and stromatolite fossils are mounds of carbonate constructed by communities of microbes
• This indicates that 3.7 billion years ago, microbial life was already diverse
• Diversity shows life emerged within first few 100 million years of earth’s existence in keeping with biologist calculations showing great equity of life’s genetic code
• This discovery represents a new benchmark for the oldest preserved evidence of life on earth

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