Isotope and trace element geochemistry of Archean chert : Deciphering the ancient oceanic environment and biological activity

2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20340146
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Stratigraphy/Paleontology
• Research Institution: Toho University (2009-2011); Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (2008)
• Principal Investigator: YAMAGUCHI Kosei 東邦大学, 理学部, 准教授 (00359209)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KATO Yasuhiro 東京大学, 大学院・工学系研究科, 教授 (40221882) ; SUZUKI Katsuhiko 海洋研究開発機構, 地球内部変動研究センタ-, グループリーダー (70251329) ; KIYOKAWA Shoichi 九州大学, 大学院・理学研究院, 准教授 (50335999) ; NEDACHI Munetomo 鹿児島大学, 理学部, 教授 (10107849)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NARAOKA Hiroshi 九州大学, 大学院・理学研究院, 教授 (20198386) ; ITO Takashi 茨城大学, 教育学部, 教授 (10272098) ; IKEHARA Minoru 高知大学, 海洋コア総合研究センター, 准教授 (90335919)
• Project Period (FY): 2008 – 2011
• Keywords: 太古代 / 堆積岩 / チャート / 縞状鉄鉱層 / 黒色頁岩 / 安定同位体

Research Abstract

From multidisciplinary geochemical studies using the fresh drillcore samples of 3.46 Ga chert and 3.2 Ga chert/BIF/black shales, the following exciting results are obtained. Ferrous iron from hydrothermal venting was oxidized, most likely by dissolved oxygen, in the 3.46 Ga deep hot ocean that was influenced by hydrothermal activity. In the 3.2 Ga ocean, that was shown from our studies to have been very similar to the 3.46 Ga ocean, microbial denitrification, oxygenic photosynthesis, and sulfate reduction were all active. Our major conclusion is that the Mesoarchean ocean was generally oxic with local and temporal existence of anoxic water bodies. This study has far-reaching implications for the early co-evolution of microbial biosphere and surface environments of the Earth.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Lateral variations in the lithology and organic chemistry of a black shale succession of the Mesoarchean Dixon Island Formation in the coastal Pilbara Terrane Western Australia : Influence by syndepositional hydrothermal activity (2012)
  • Author(s): Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Yamaguchi, K. E., Koge, S., and Sakamoto, R.
  • Journal Title: Island Arc 21 Volume: 21 Pages: 118-147
  • DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1440-1738.2012.00811.x
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Effects of tides and weather on the sedimentation of iron-oxyhydroxides in a shallow-marine hydrothermal environment at Nagahama Bay, Satsuma Iwo-Jima Island, Kagoshima, southwest Japan (2012)
  • Author(s): Kiyokawa, S., Ninomiya, T., Oguri, K., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Nagata, T., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Journal Title: Island Arc 21 Volume: 21 Pages: 66-78
  • DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1440-1738.2012.00808.x
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean as a potential resource for rare-earth elements (2011)
  • Author(s): Kato, Y., Fujinaga, K., Nakamura, K., Takaya, Y., Kitamura, K., Ohta, J., Toda, R., Nakashima, T. and Iwamori, H.
  • Journal Title: Nature Geoscience
  • DOI: doi:10.1038/NGEO1185
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Extreme oxygen isotope anomaly with a solar origin detected in meteoritic organics (2011)
  • Author(s): Hashizume, K., Takahata, N., Naraoka, H., and Sano, Y.
  • Journal Title: Nature Geoscience Volume: 4 Pages: 165-168
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Iron and carbon isotope evidence for ecosystem and environmental diversity in the～ 2.7 to 2.5 Ga Hamersley Basin (2010)
  • Author(s): Czaja, A. D., Johnson, C. M., Beard, B. L., Eigenbrode, J. L., Freeman, K. H., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Journal Title: Western Australia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters Volume: 292 Pages: 170-180
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Geochemistry of modern carbonaceous sediments overlain by a water mass showing photic zone anoxia developed in the salime meromictic Lake Kai-ike, and phosphorus (2010)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Oguri, K., Ogawa, N. O., Sakai, S., Hirano, S., Kitazato, H., and Ohkouchi, N.
  • Journal Title: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Volume: 294 Pages: 72-82
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Enrichment of molybdenum in Mesoarchean black shales : A preliminary result of DXCL-DP(Dixon Island-Cleaverville Drilling Project), Pilbara Western Australia (2010)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Sakamoto, R., Hosoi, K., Kiyokawa, S., Naraoka, H., Ikehara, M., and Ito, T.
  • Journal Title: Geological Survey of Western Australia Volume: 18 Pages: 398-400
• [Journal Article] Mesoarchean hydrothermal oceanic sedimentation and environment : DXCL-Drilling West Pilbara, Australia (2010)
  • Author(s): Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Yamaguchi, K. E., Naraoka, H., Sakamoto, R., Koge, S., Hosoi, K., and Suganuma, Y.
  • Journal Title: Geological Survey of Western Australia Volume: 18 Pages: 375-377
• [Journal Article] Hydrothermal activity and iron sedimentation in Nagahama Bay, Satsuma Iwojima Island, Kagoshima, Japan (2010)
  • Author(s): Nagata, T., Kiyokawa, S., Sakamoto, R., Takehara, M., Ikehara, M., Oguri, K., Goto, S., Ito, T., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Journal Title: Geological Survey of Western Australia Volume: 18 Pages: 378-379
• [Journal Article] Reconstruction of 3.2 Ga ocean floor environment from cores of DXCK Drilling Project, Pilbara, Western Australia. Results of stratigraphic analysis and sulfur isotope analysis (2010)
  • Author(s): Sakamoto, R., Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Naraoka, H., Yamaguchi, K. E., and Suganuma, Y.
  • Journal Title: Geological Survey of Western Australia Volume: 18 Pages: 386-387
• [Journal Article] Re-Os geochronology of the Iimori Besshi-type massive sulfide deposit in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, Japan (2010)
  • Author(s): Nozaki, T., Kato, Y., and Suzuki, K.
  • Journal Title: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Volume: 74 Pages: 322-331
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Re-Os年代測定法による硫化物鉱床生成年代の直接決定とその応用 (2010)
  • Author(s): 鈴木勝彦, 加藤泰浩
  • Journal Title: 資源地質 Volume: 60 Pages: 25-36
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Clues of Early Life : Dixon Island-Cleaverville Drilling Project(DXCL-DP) in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia. (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., Ikehara, M., Kitajima, F., and Suganuma, Y.
  • Journal Title: Scientific Drilling Volume: 7 Pages: 34-37
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Box modeling to estimate the degree of water-rock interaction during the Paleoproterozoic Lateritization of the Hekpoort Basalt (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Journal Title: South Africa. Journal of Geochemical Exploration Volume: 101 Pages: 118
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Comment on "Evaluation of palaeo-oxygenation of the ocean bottom across the Permian-Triassic boundary" by Kakuwa(2008): Was the Late Permian deep-superocean really oxic (2009)
  • Author(s): Kato, Y. and Isozaki, Y.
  • Journal Title: Global and Planetary Change Volume: 69 Pages: 79-81
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Hematite formation by oxygenated groundwater more than 2.76 billion years ago (2009)
  • Author(s): Kato, Y., Suzuki, K., Nakamura, K., Hickman, A. H., Nedachi, M., Kusakabe, M., Bevacqua, D. C. and Ohmoto, H.
  • Journal Title: Earth and Planetary Science Letters Volume: 278 Pages: 40-49
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Ontong Java Plateau eruption as a trigger for the Early Aptian oceanic anoxic event (2009)
  • Author(s): Tejada, M. L. G., Suzuki, K., et al
  • Journal Title: Geology Volume: 37 Pages: 855-858
  • DOI: DOI:10.1130/G25763A.1
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Abrupt changes of intermediate-water oxygen in the northwestern Pacific during the last 27 kyr (2008)
  • Author(s): Ishizaki, Y., Ohkushi, K., Ito, T., and Kawahata, H.
  • Journal Title: Geo-Marine Letters
  • DOI: doi:10.1007/s00367-008-0128-0
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] 太古代海底熱水系の地質1 :南アフリカ・バーバートン帯中の33億年前マサウリ亜層の岩相と全有機炭素量および炭素同位体比 (2008)
  • Author(s): 清川昌一, 稲本雄介, 伊藤孝, 池原実, 北島富美雄
  • Journal Title: 茨城大学教育学部紀要(自然) Volume: 57 Pages: 7-15
• [Journal Article] 西オーストラリア・ピルバラ・デキソンアイランド層の地質-9 :デキソンアイランドDX-A・D・E・F地域の地質 (2008)
  • Author(s): 高下将一郎, 清川昌一, 伊藤孝, 池原実
  • Journal Title: 茨城大学教育学部紀要(自然) Volume: 57 Pages: 17-25
• [Presentation] Biogeochemical cycling of C, N, S, and Fe and origin of organic matter recorded in the 3.2 Ga-old black shales (2012)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kobayashi, Y., Kobayashi, D., Nakamura, T., Ikehara, M., Sakamoto, R., Naraoka, H., Kiyokawa, S., and Ito, T.
  • Organizer: 2^<nd> International Geoscience Symposium. Record of oceanic environments through Earth history
  • Place of Presentation: National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan
  • Year and Date: 20120305-09
• [Presentation] Dixon Island-Clearverville Drilling Projects(DXCL-DP) Phases 1 & 2 in northwestern Pilbara, Western Australia : Searching for clues in the co-evolution of microbial biosphere and environments in early Earth from 3.2 Ga old sedimentary rocks (2011)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生、清川昌一、池原実、伊藤孝
  • Organizer: 第4回アストロバイオロジー・ワークショップ
  • Place of Presentation: 神戸大学、兵庫県神戸市
  • Year and Date: 20111026-27
• [Presentation] Evidence for the fully-oxygenated oceans and atmosphere during the Archean eon (2011)
  • Author(s): Ohmoto, H., Lasaga, A. C., Watanabe, Y., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Minneapolis, MN, USA
  • Year and Date: 20111009-12
• [Presentation] Freeze-fry cycles in the Paleoproterozoic Turee Creek Group, Western Australia (2011)
  • Author(s): VanKranendonk, M. J., Lepland, A., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: 21st V. M. Goldschmidt Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Pragh, Czech
  • Year and Date: 20110814-19
• [Presentation] Development of the modern-style geochemical cycle of uranium by 3.5 Ga : a solution to the "lead paradox" (2011)
  • Author(s): Ohmoto, H., Watanabe, Y., Yamaguchi, K. E., Bevacqua, D. C., Johnson, I., and Rushton, T.
  • Organizer: 21st V. M. Goldschmidt Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Pragh, Czech
  • Year and Date: 20110814-19
• [Presentation] Enrichment of Mo in the 3.2 Ga old Black Shales Recovered by DXCL-DP(Dixon Island-Cleaverville Drilling Project) in Pilbara Western Australia (2011)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kiyokawa, S., Ikehara, M., Suganuma, Y., and Ito, T.
  • Organizer: Origins 2011
  • Place of Presentation: Montpellier, France
  • Year and Date: 20110703-08
• [Presentation] 約25-27億年前の生態系と環境の多様性:鉄と有機炭素の安定同位体からの視点(Ecosystem and environments 2.5-2.7 Ga ago : Geochemical Records from the Hamersley Basin, Western Australia) (2011)
  • Organizer: 日本地球惑星科学連合2011年大会
  • Place of Presentation: 幕張メッセ
  • Year and Date: 20110522-27
• [Presentation] Molybdenum Enrichment in the 3.2 Ga old Black Shales Recovered by Dixon Island-Cleaverville Drilling Project(DXCL-DP) in Northwestern Pilbara, Western Australia (2010)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kiyokawa, S., Naraoka, H., Ikehara, M., Ito, T., Suganuma, Y., Sakamoto, R., and Hosoi, K.
  • Organizer: American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Year and Date: 20101213-17
• [Presentation] 鉄と有機炭素の安定同位体組成から見た25.27億年前の生態系と環境の多様性 (2010)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生、Andy Czaja, Clark Johnson, Brian Beard, Jen Eigenbrode, Kate Freeman, Brian Beard, Jen Eigenbrode, Kate Freeman
  • Organizer: 日本地質学会第117年学術大会
  • Place of Presentation: 富山大学
  • Year and Date: 20100918-20
• [Presentation] Enrichment of molybdenum in Mesoarchean black shales : A preliminary result of DXCL-DP(Dixon Island. Cleaverville Drilling Project), Pilbara, Western Australia. (2010)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Sakamoto, R., Hosoi, K., Kiyokawa, S., Naraoka, H., Ikehara, M., and Ito, T.
  • Organizer: 5^<th> International Archean Symposium(5IAS)
  • Place of Presentation: Perth, Australia
  • Year and Date: 20100905-09
• [Presentation] Discovery of 3.2 billion-years-old sulfidic black shales : A progress report of the Dixon Island-Cleaverville Drilling Project(DXCLDP) in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia (2010)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kiyokawa, S., Ito, T., and Ikehara, M.
  • Organizer: Lunar and Planetary Institute(LPI) Contribution No.1538, 5199. In Astrobiology Science Conference(AbSciCon) 2010
  • Place of Presentation: League City, TX, USA
  • Year and Date: 20100426-29
• [Presentation] Iron and carbon isotope evidence for ecosystem and environmental diversity in the～ 2.7 to 2.5 Ga Hamersley Province, Western Australia (2010)
  • Author(s): Czaja, A. D., Johnson, C. M., Beard, B. L., Eigenbrode, J. L., Freeman, K. H., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: Lunar and Planetary Institute(LPI) Contribution No.1538, 5175.In Astrobiology Science Conference(AbSciCon) 2010
  • Place of Presentation: League City, TX, USA
  • Year and Date: 20100426-29
• [Presentation] Non-traditional stable isotope biogeochemistry of transition metals : A new tool for detecting biosignatures and constraining metabolism in modern subsurface environments and early Earth (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: 8th International Symposium on Subsurface Microbiology(ISSM2009)
  • Place of Presentation: Higashi Shizuoka, Japan
  • Year and Date: 20091116-21
• [Presentation] Iron and carbon isotope evidence for ecosystem and environmental diversity in the～ 2.7 to 2.5 Ga Hamersley Basin, Western Australia (2009)
  • Author(s): Czaja, A. D., Johnson, C. M., Beard, B. L., Eigenbrode, J. L., Freeman, K. H., and Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Portland, OR, USA
  • Year and Date: 20091018-21
• [Presentation] REE+Y geochemistry of the 3.46 Ga Marble Bar Chert recovered by the Archean Biosphere Drilling Project(ABDP) (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kato, Y., Nakamura, K., Suzuki, K., Watanabe, Y., Nedachi, M., and Ohmoto, H.
  • Organizer: 19th V. M. Goldschmidt Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Davos, Switzerland
  • Year and Date: 20090621-26
• [Presentation] Fe, S, and C isotopes record great microbial diversity in the Neoarchean (2009)
  • Author(s): Johnson, C. M., Yamaguchi, K. E., Ohmoto, H., and Beard, B.
  • Organizer: 19th V. M. Goldschmidt Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Davos, Switzerland
  • Year and Date: 20090621-26
• [Presentation] 初期原生代のラテライト形成と生命-水-鉱物相互作用 (2009)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生
  • Organizer: 日本地球惑星科学連合2009年大会
  • Place of Presentation: 幕張メッセ
  • Year and Date: 20090516-21
• [Presentation] Box modeling to estimate the degree of water-rock interaction during the Paleoproterozoic Lateritization of the Hekpoort Basalt, South Africa (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: Geofluids 2009
  • Place of Presentation: Adelaide, Australia
  • Year and Date: 20090415-18
• [Presentation] Laterite Formation in the Paleoproterozoic (2009)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: International Geoscience Symposium "Precambrian World 2009"
  • Place of Presentation: Fukuoka
  • Year and Date: 20090306-08
• [Presentation] Archean Biosphere Drilling Project(ABDP)試料による約34.6億年前のMarble Bar Chertの地球化学:鉄酸化物の形成プロセスと海洋の酸化還元状態. (2008)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生、加藤泰浩、中村謙太郎、鈴木勝彦、根建心具、Arthur Hickman、渡邊由美子・大本洋
  • Organizer: 日本地質学会第115年学術大会
  • Place of Presentation: 秋田大学
  • Year and Date: 20080920-22
• [Presentation] 初期原生代「大気中酸度濃度急上昇イベント」の玄武岩に発達したラテライトの成因:鉄と酸素の同位体からの制約 (2008)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生, J. Valley, C. Johnson, B. Beard, J. Gutzmer, N. J. Beukes, H. Ohmoto
  • Organizer: 日本地球化学会第55回年会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学
  • Year and Date: 20080917-19
• [Presentation] The oldest laterite on Earth? Paleoproterozoic low-latitude lateritic weathering profile from Botswana (2008)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Organizer: International Geological Congress(IGC)
  • Place of Presentation: Oslo, Norway
  • Year and Date: 20080806-14
• [Presentation] Geochemical evidence for oxygenated oceans 3.46 Ga ago : REE geochemistry of the Marble Bar Chert recovered by the Archean Biosphere Drilling Project(ABDP) (2008)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Kato, Y., Nakamura, K., Suzuki, K, Watanabe, Y., Nedachi, M., and Ohmoto, H.
  • Organizer: Australian Earth Science Convention(AESC) 2008, New Generation Advances in Geoscience
  • Place of Presentation: Perth, Western Australia
  • Year and Date: 20080720-24
• [Presentation] Coupled C-S-Fe isotope variations in Archean-Paleoproterozoic shales trace microbial metabolisms and redox state in the early Earth. (Astrobiology 8, 326) (2008)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E., Johnson, C. M., Beard, B. L., Poulson, S. R., and Ohmoto, H.
  • Organizer: Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon)
  • Place of Presentation: Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Year and Date: 20080414-17
• [Book] 地球史と鉱床形成, In宇宙と地球の化学辞典 (2012)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生
  • Publisher: 朝倉書店
• [Book] 古土壌と大気進化, In宇宙と地球の化学辞典 (2012)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生
  • Publisher: 朝倉書店
• [Book] 大気中酸素濃度上昇, In宇宙と地球の化学辞典 (2012)
  • Author(s): 山口耕生
  • Publisher: 朝倉書店
• [Book] Paleosol. In Encyclopedia of Astrobiology(ed. M. Gargaud) (2011)
  • Author(s): Yamaguchi, K. E.
  • Total Pages: 1211-1212
  • Publisher: Springer