Eoarchean Explained

Color:	Eoarchean
Top Bar:	all time
Time Start:	4031
Time Start Uncertainty:	3
Time End:	3600
Timeline:	Eons
Name Formality:	Formal
Alternate Spellings:	Eoarchaean
Celestial Body:	earth
Usage:	Global (ICS)
Timescales Used:	ICS Time Scale
Chrono Unit:	Era
Strat Unit:	Erathem
Timespan Formality:	Formal
Lower Boundary Def:	Ten oldest U-Pb zircon ages
Lower Gssa Accept Date:	2023^[1]
Upper Boundary Def:	Defined Chronometrically
Upper Gssa Accept Date:	1991
Lower Gssa Location:	Along the Acasta River, Northwest Territories, Canada

The Eoarchean (; also spelled Eoarchaean) is the first era of the Archean Eon of the geologic record. It spans 431 million years, from the end of the Hadean Eon 4031 Mya to the start of the Paleoarchean Era 3600 Mya. The beginnings of life on Earth have been dated to this era and evidence of archaea and cyanobacteria date to 3500 Mya, comparatively shortly after the Eoarchean. At that time, the atmosphere was without oxygen and the pressure values ranged from 10 to 100 bar (around 10 to 100 times the atmospheric pressure today).^{[2] [3] [4]}

Chronology

The Eoarchean Era was formerly officially unnamed and informally referred to as the first part of the Early Archean Eon (which is now an obsolete name) alongside the Paleoarchean Era.

The International Commission on Stratigraphy now officially recognizes the Eoarchean Era as thefirst part of the Archaean Eon, preceded by the Hadean Eon, during which the Earth is believed to have been essentially molten.

The Eoarchaean's lower boundary or starting point of 4.031 Gya (4031 million years ago) is officially recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.^[5]

The name comes from two Greek words: (dawn) and (ancient). The first supercontinent candidate Vaalbara appeared around the end of this period at about .

Geology

See main article: article and Eoarchean geology. The beginning of the Eoarchean is characterized by heavy asteroid bombardment within the Inner Solar System: the Late Heavy Bombardment. The largest Eoarchean rock formation is the Isua Greenstone Belt on the south-west coast of Greenland, which dates from 3.8 billion years. The Acasta Gneiss within the Canadian Shield have been dated to be 4,031 Ma and are therefore the oldest preserved rock formations. In 2008, another rock formation was discovered in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northern Québec, Canada, which has been dated to be .^[6] These formations are presently under intense investigation.^[7] Oxygen isotope ratios show that the hydrological cycle had begun by the early Eoarchaean and possibly earlier.^[8] Carbonate precipitation (caused by heating of sea water by hydrothermal vents) acted as an important sink regulating the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during this era.^[9]

Atmosphere

3,850 million years old apatite from Greenland shows evidence of Carbon-12 enrichment. This has sparked a debate whether there might have been photosynthetic life before 3.8 billion years ago.^[10]

Proposed subdivisions

• Eoarchean Era — 4031–3600 Mya
  • Acastan Period — 4031–3810 Mya
  • Isuan Period — 3810–3600 Mya^[11]

See also

• Precambrian Supereon (4600-539 Mya)
  • Hadean Eon (4600-4031 Mya)
  • Archean Eon (4031-2500 Mya)
    • Paleoarchean Era (3600-3200 Mya)
    • Mesoarchean Era (3200-2800 Mya)
    • Neoarchean Era (2800-2500 Mya)
  • Proterozoic Eon (2500-539 Mya)

Further reading

• Book: Egel . R. . Lankenau . D.-H. . Mulkidjanian . A. Y. . 2011 . Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization . Springer-Verlag . Berlin Heidelberg . 978-3-642-21624-4 . 10.1007/978-3-642-21625-1 .

External links

• • Taxonconcept.stratigraphy.ne: A short fact sheet on the Eoarchean
• Eoarchean (chronostratigraphy scale)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point . International Commission of Stratigraphy . 29 October 2023.
2. Mulkidjanian . Armen Y. . August 2009 . On the origin of life in the zinc world: 1. Photosynthesizing, porous edifices built of hydrothermally precipitated zinc sulfide as cradles of life on Earth . Biol. Direct . 10.1186/1745-6150-4-26 . 19703272 . 3152778 . 4 . 26– . free .
3. Mulkidjanian . A. Y. . Bychkov . A. Y. . Dibrova . D. V. . Galperin . M. Y. . Koonin . E. V. . 2012 . Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA . 10.1073/pnas.1117774109 . free . 2012PNAS..109E.821M . 22331915 . 3325685 . 109 . 14 . E821–30.
4. Encyclopedia: Mulkidjanian . A. Y. . Egel . R. . Lankenau . D.-H. . A. Y. . Mulkidjanian . 2011 . Energetics of the First Life . Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization . Springer Verlag . Heidelberg . 978-3-642-21625-1 . 3–33.
5. Web site: September 2023 . International Chronostratigraphic Chart v.2023/09 . . October 29, 2023.
6. O'Neil . J. . Carlson . R. W. . Francis . D. . Stevenson . R. K. . 2008 . Neodymium-142 Evidence for Hadean Mafic Crust . . 10.1126/science.1161925 . 18818357 . 2008Sci...321.1828O . 206514655 . 321 . 5897 . 1828–1831.
7. David . J. . Godin . L. . Stevenson . R. K. . O'Neil . J. . Francis . D. . 2009 . U-Pb ages (3.8–2.7 Ga) and Nd isotope data from the newly identified Eoarchean Nuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt, Superior Craton, Canada . . 10.1130/B26369.1 . 121 . 1–2 . 150–163.
8. Gamaleldien . Hamed . Wu . Li-Guang . Olierook . Hugo K. H. . Kirkland . Christopher L. . Kirscher . Uwe . Li . Zheng-Xiang . Johnson . Tim E. . Makin . Sean . Li . Qiu-Li . Jiang . Qiang . Wilde . Simon A. . Li . Xian-Hua . 3 June 2024 . Onset of the Earth’s hydrological cycle four billion years ago or earlier . . en . 17 . 6 . 560–565 . 10.1038/s41561-024-01450-0 . 1752-0894 . 16 July 2024.
9. Antonelli . Michael A. . Kendrick . Jillian . Yakymchuk . Chris . Guitreau . Martin . Mittal . Tushar . Moynier . Frédéric . 5 May 2021 . Calcium isotope evidence for early Archaean carbonates and subduction of oceanic crust . . 12 . 1 . 1–8 . 10.1038/s41467-021-22748-2 . free . 20.500.11850/484746 . free .
10. Mojzsis . S. J. . Arrhenius . G. . McKeegan . K. D. . Harrison . T. M. . Nutman . A. P. . Friend . C. R. L. . 1996 . Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago . Nature . 10.1038/384055a0 . 8900275 . 1996Natur.384...55M . 2060/19980037618 . free . 4342620 . 384 . 6604 . 55–59 .
11. Book: Van Kranendonk, Martin J. . . Gradstein . Felix M. . Ogg . James G. . Schmitz . Mark D. . Ogg . Gabi M. . 2012 . The geologic time scale 2012 . 1st . 16: A Chronostratigraphic Division of the Precambrian: Possibilities and Challenges . Elsevier . Amsterdam . 978-0-44-459425-9 . 359–365.