Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schopf, J. W. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

The First Billion Years: When Did Life Emerge?

¹ Department of Earth & Space Sciences, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics (Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life), and Molecular Biology Institute, University
of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA
E-mail: schopf{at}ess.ucla.edu

There are three principal lines of evidence from which we can infer the timing of the origin of life on Earth: stromatolites, microfossils, and carbon isotope data. All indicate that life emerged earlier than 3500 million years ago, but the details and exact timing of life's beginnings remain unknown.

KEYWORDS: Archean, stromatolites, microfossils, carbon isotopes, oldest fossils, origin of life

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. W. Delano Scientific Exploration of the Moon Elements, February 1, 2009; 5(1): 11 - 16. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. D. McKeegan, A. B. Kudryavtsev, and J. W. Schopf Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from older than 3830 Ma Akilia supracrustal rocks, west Greenland Geology, July 1, 2007; 35(7): 591 - 594. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]