Fig Tree Formation

Fig Tree Formation
Stratigraphic range: Archean
~3260Ma
Type Geological formation
Unit of Barberton Supergroup
Underlies Moodies Group
Overlies Onverwacht Group
Lithology
Primary Sandstone
Other Shale
Location
Location Kaapvaal Craton
Region Barberton Greenstone Belt, Mpumalanga
Country  South Africa

Location of the Barberton Greenstone Belt

The Fig Tree Formation, also called Fig Tree Group, is a stromatolite-containing geological formation in South Africa. The rock contains fossils of microscopic life forms of about 3.26 billion years old.[1] Identified organisms include the bacterium Eobacterium isolatus and the algae-like Archaeosphaeroides barbertonensis. The fossils in the Fig Tree Formation are considered some of the oldest known organisms on Earth, and provide evidence that life may have existed much earlier than previously thought. The formation comprises shales, turbiditic, lithic greywackes, volcanoclastic sandstones, chert, turbiditic siltstone, conglomerate, breccias, mudstones, and iron-rich shales.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 2015 - Brown - Exploring the Evolution of Oxygen on the Early Earth: Constraining the Evolution of Oxidative Phosphorylation Through the Utilization of Uranium Isotopes
  2. ↑ Barberton geological field mapping report 2012

Further reading

  • "Fig Tree microfossils". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2016. Retrieved Oct 9, 2016.
  • Byerly G.R., Lower D.R. & Walsh M.M. (1986). Stromatolites from the 3300–3500-Myr Swaziland Supergroup, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. Nature, 319: 489-491.
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