Life on Earth Originated Where Later Microbial Oxygenic Photosynthesis Precipitated Banded Iron Formation, Suppressing Life Diversification for 1.4 Ga

Abstract

The earliest Precambrian microbial structures appear in successions with banded iron formations (BIF) suggesting genetic relationships. The hypothesis of the deep ocean origin of BIFs associated with Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR) like features seems to have been recently supported by the discovery of peculiar microbial ecosystems with unique faunal assemblages restricted to these volcanic vents. However, new sedimentological evidence points to the accumulation of varved BIF in huge, very shallow lakes of hydrothermal-water situated on continental plates while passing through the Polar Regions, where UV radiation is minimal. The mineral-rich solutions seeped from numerous fumaroles, providing suitable conditions for chemical reactions between inorganic components, incidentally creating organic-like self-multiplying molecules long before the biologically-initiated BIF deposition.