Atmospheric hydrogen peroxide and Eoarchean iron formations
Pecoits, E., Smith, M. L., Catling, D. C., Philippot, P., Kappler, A. and Konhauser, K. O. (2014),
Geobiology
doi: 10.1111/gbi.12116
Using conservative Fe(III) sedimentation rates predicted for submarine hydrothermal settings in the Eoarchean, we demonstrate that the flux of H2O2 was insufficient by several orders of magnitude to account for IF deposition (requiring ~1011 H2O2 molecules cm−2 s−1). This finding further constrains the plausible Fe(II) oxidation mechanisms in Eoarchean seawater, leaving, in our opinion, anoxygenic phototrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing micro-organisms the most likely mechanism responsible for Earth’s oldest IF.
update (7 November 2014):
Life’s History in Iron
by Aaron L. Gronstal in Astrobiology
