Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Life thrived on young Earth: scientists discover 3.7-billion-year-old fossils
Science Daily ^ | 8/31/2016 | Allen P. Nutman, et al

Posted on 08/31/2016 4:24:39 PM PDT by JimSEA

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last
The original dating of the rocks in which these stromatolites were found is a fascinating story in and of itself.

The discovery of the Earth's oldest rocks ( http://rsnr.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/63/4/381 ) deals with the isotope dating of these same rocks:

"One memorable day in 1970, we first analysed isotopically a sample of Amîtsoq gneiss (see above) sent to Oxford by McGregor, representing the oldest member of his sequence. We found that it had a more ‘unradiogenic’ lead isotope composition (that is, lower 206Pb/204Pb and 207Pb/204Pb ratios)7 than any terrestrial ore or rock lead ever reported previously. On any plausible terrestrial lead-isotope growth models, which were already fairly well understood by that time,,3 the analysed lead, and hence the rock, must be at least 3.7 Gyr old. By that time the gneiss had already become highly depleted in uranium (a common observation in strongly metamorphosed gneisses), so that radiogenic evolution of their lead from uranium had virtually ceased."

1 posted on 08/31/2016 4:24:39 PM PDT by JimSEA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

The layer is all that is left of the past civilization.
Squashed flat by time and rock. If they remove the layers above they will see a grid pattern of a city.... : )


2 posted on 08/31/2016 4:34:07 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

Professor Irwin Cory?? Just kidding.....


3 posted on 08/31/2016 4:36:13 PM PDT by dasboot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: minnesota_bound
The layer is all that is left of the past civilization. Squashed flat by time and rock. If they remove the layers above they will see a grid pattern of a city.... : )

They weren't "civilized" unless they had indoor plumbing! :)

4 posted on 08/31/2016 4:39:15 PM PDT by the_Watchman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: the_Watchman

Ashes are a sign of wood-burning TV’s


5 posted on 08/31/2016 4:49:38 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true ... and it pisses people off)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

“If we’d just speed up this Global Warming, we’d be melting ice and tundra and chit and we’d know a WHOLE lot more about our Erf Family!”

~ Said No EnviroWeenie, Ever

*SMIRK*


6 posted on 08/31/2016 4:56:29 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

There are no fossils that old. God created them 6,000 years ago when he created the Earth. He just made them look old so we would be confused. He also made the whole vast universe at the same time to test our faith.


7 posted on 08/31/2016 5:15:09 PM PDT by webheart (We are all pretty much living in a fiction.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

There are no fossils that old. God created them 6,000 years ago when he created the Earth. He just made them look old so we would be confused. He also made the whole vast universe at the same time to test our faith.


8 posted on 08/31/2016 5:15:09 PM PDT by webheart (We are all pretty much living in a fiction.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dasboot

Helen Thomas, Nancy Pelosi and/or Hillary Clinton? Decent Stromatolites wouldn’t let these POS near any of their colonies, esp. in the Pre-Cambrian Eras.

In fact, Thomas, Pelosi and Clinton look more like COPROLITES (dinosaur crap). They also look like Velociraptors in heat. JURAISSIC PARK - DEMOCRAT STYLE!!


9 posted on 08/31/2016 5:21:15 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

Fossils of the future


10 posted on 08/31/2016 5:28:33 PM PDT by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

Now you’ve done it, there is sure to be an “Amazing Discoveries” You Tube video announcing human civilization 3.8 billion years old. ;-)


11 posted on 08/31/2016 5:41:58 PM PDT by JimSEA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: JoeProBono

That’s exactly how I will leave my Nintendo Zapper! I need to remember to dig a hole for it.


12 posted on 08/31/2016 6:07:53 PM PDT by edh (I need a better tagline)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

3.7 billion. A nice number, lets go with it./sac


13 posted on 08/31/2016 7:58:40 PM PDT by Bellflower (Dems = Mat 6:23 ....If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

We should assume these “fossils” are of non-biological origin until there is stronger evidence otherwise.


14 posted on 09/01/2016 8:07:02 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimSEA

Surprisingly, the NYTimes has a much more balanced article on this claim.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/science/oldest-fossils-on-earth.html


15 posted on 09/01/2016 8:12:46 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Moonman62; JimSEA; JoeProBono; webheart
Moonman62: "We should assume these 'fossils' are of non-biological origin until there is stronger evidence otherwise."

Here is a photo, this article said they are about 1.6 inches high:

Stromatolite fossils have been found in many places from many different time periods, including the relatively recent past.

16 posted on 09/01/2016 9:55:21 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: webheart
webheart: "God created them 6,000 years ago when he created the Earth.
He just made them look old so we would be confused.
He also made the whole vast universe at the same time to test our faith."

That is the first time I've seen anybody post what must be one logical possibility -- God deliberately planted evidence to trick scientists into thinking that Earth is billions, not just thousands, of years old.
I don't buy it, except as a remote theological possibility.
That's because, first, the evidence is far too extensive and consistent to be faked.
But second and far more important, nothing in the Bible suggests God is trickster.


17 posted on 09/01/2016 10:06:37 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: BroJoeK

From your article:

The dating seems about right, said Abigail Allwood , a NASA astrobiologist who found the previous oldest fossil, from 3.48 billion years ago, in Australia. But Allwood said she is not completely convinced that what VanKranendonk’s team found once was alive. She said the evidence wasn’t conclusive enough that it was life and not a geologic quirk.

FYI: Stromatolites are still being formed in some parts of the world.


18 posted on 09/01/2016 10:13:05 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: BroJoeK

From the article I posted in #15:

But the argument that life seems to have evolved very early and quickly, so therefore is inherently likely, can be turned around, Dr. Joyce said. “You could ask why, if life were such a probable event, we don’t have evidence of multiple origins,” he said.

In fact, with trivial variations, there is only one genetic code for all known forms of life, pointing to a single origin.


19 posted on 09/01/2016 10:25:34 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Moonman62

As Allwood seems to be saying is that they look like stromatolite fossils but the time period would seem to suppose that life developed before and survived the Late Heavy Bombardment. That’s a hard question to answer.


20 posted on 09/01/2016 11:03:09 AM PDT by JimSEA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson