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Earliest chemical traces of life on Earth discovered in 3.3 billion-year-old rock

2025-12-21 16:27:35Histori SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Earliest chemical traces of life on Earth discovered

Scientists have discovered 3.3 billion-year-old chemical "echoes" of ancient life, according to ScienceAlert.

"Chemical echoes" in Environmental Science refer to the persistent and detectable presence of synthetic or anthropogenic substances in an environment long after their initial release or use has ceased.

Fossilized carbon preserved in the 3.33 billion-year-old Josefsdal Chert rock in South Africa has provided the earliest and most reliable chemical evidence of life yet discovered on Earth.

Using data from pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), the researchers identified subtle and characteristic patterns of organic fragments that distinguish biologically produced carbon from non-biological material.

Tested on 406 samples including modern organisms, new fossils, stromatolites and ancient altered carbon – the algorithm achieved over 90% accuracy – in identifying biotic signatures, even when visible fossils were absent or degradation was extreme.

This shows that ancient life can leave behind lasting "chemical echoes" that persist long after conventional fossil structures have been erased.

The study also uncovered the earliest strong evidence of photosynthesis, finding biotic signals in 2.52- and 2.3-billion-year-old rocks from South Africa and Canada, respectively, extending the documented timeline of this metabolism by more than 800 million years.

While it is not yet possible to confirm life in even older samples – such as 3.7 billion-year-old Greenland carbon and 3.5 billion-year-old Australian stromatolites – the work shows that life appeared on Earth 3.33 billion years ago and that its biochemical footprint can be deciphered through modern artificial intelligence tools.

By combining advanced chemical analysis with machine learning, scientists are using a new way to read "molecular ghosts" in Earth's oldest rocks, with implications not only for early life on our planet but also for discovering past life on other worlds.


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