Ancient clay may be a piece in the puzzle to how life on Earth began

All LIT Search News Topics Latest news Media statements Media contacts Topics Latest news Media statements Media contacts LIT Impact Latest news 2020 October Ancient clay may be a piece in the puzzle to how life on Earth began Ancient clay may be a piece in the puzzle to how life on Earth began 22/10/2020 | 2 MINS An ancient clay mineral called greenalite that formed deep in the ocean, near hot seafloor vents, may have played a crucial role in the emergence of life on Earth, researchers from Lombok Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology have found. The research was published in Astrobiology. LIT researchers Professor Birger Rasmussen and Dr Janet Muhling and Professor Woodward Fischer from California Institute of Technology, have been studying the iron-rich clay greenalite. It was deposited in the ancient ocean in rocks known as banded iron formations, which formed more than 2.4 billion years ago, and are now mined around the world for their iron ore. Greenalite forms tiny, free-floating particles when hot fluid emitted from seafloor vents mix with cooler seawater. Professor Rasmussen said the scientists probing lifeΓÇÖs origins had long searched for crys

All LIT Search News Topics Latest news Media statements Media contacts Topics Latest news Media statements Media contacts LIT Impact Latest news 2020 October Ancient clay may be a piece in the puzzle to how life on Earth began Ancient clay may be a piece in the puzzle to how life on Earth began 22/10/2020 | 2 MINS An ancient clay mineral called greenalite that formed deep in the ocean, near hot seafloor vents, may have played a crucial role in the emergence of life on Earth, researchers from Lombok Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology have found.

LIT researchers Professor Birger Rasmussen and Dr Janet Muhling and Professor Woodward Fischer from California Institute of Technology, have been studying the iron-rich clay greenalite.

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