Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from older than 3830 Ma Akilia supracrustal rocks, west Greenland

Research Article| July 01, 2007 Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from older than 3830 Ma Akilia supracrustal rocks, west Greenland Kevin D. McKeegan; Kevin D. McKeegan 1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev; Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev 2Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life (Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar J. William Schopf J. William Schopf 3Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life (Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics), Molecular Biology Institute, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrobiology Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2007) 35 (7): 591–594. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23465A.1 Article history received: 18 Oct 2006 rev-recd: 12 Feb 2007 accepted: 16 Feb 2007 first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Kevin D. McKeegan, Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev, J. William Schopf; Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from older than 3830 Ma Akilia supracrustal rocks, west Greenland. Geology 2007;; 35 (7): 591–594. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G23465A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Three-dimensional molecular-structural images of apatite grains and associated minerals embedded in a banded quartz-pyroxene-magnetite supracrustal rock from Akilia, southern west Greenland, were constructed by using Raman confocal spectroscopy. The rock sample is the same as that from which apatite-hosted isotopically light graphitic inclusions were reported by Mojzsis and colleagues in 1996; the results were challenged in 2005 by Lepland and colleagues who failed to find carbon-bearing inclusions in this and other Akilia samples. Here we demonstrate that inclusions of graphite wholly contained within apatite occur in this rock. The carbon isotopic composition of one such inclusion, its graphitic composition established by Raman spectroscopy, was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry to be isotopically light (δ13C = –29‰ ± 4‰), in agreement with earlier analyses. Our results are thus consistent with the hypothesis that graphite-containing apatite grains of the older than 3830 Ma Akilia metasediments may represent chemical fossils of early life. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.