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When Did Life On Earth Evolve?

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When did Life on Earth Evolve? ABSTRACT This article is concerned with when life first evolved. This is achieved by looking at known evolved life, such as Stromatolites found in both Australia from 3.5 Ga and Greenland from 3.8 Ga. This evidence of previous life means retrospective data of carbon isotopes (C12 & C13) found in precursing rocks can show where biotic life first appeared, the time length to when this life evolved, as well as where this life came from. INTRODUCTION Earth was formed around 4.6 Ga ago. Since then the earth’s atmosphere has changed considerably over the next few billion years until the present era. The first million years of earth’s history was filled by meteor bombardments from debris throughout our solar system, which is likely to have suppressed life from forming up until 3.8 Ga ago (Nisbet and Sleep, 2001). This article will thus focus around the 3.8 Ga era, since life is unlikely to have formed before 4 Ga. The aim of the article to ascertain when life started to evolve supported by both hard evidence and newfound evidence yet to be accepted globally. EVIDENCE Life began at least 3.5 Ga ago, in a period known as the Archaean (see fig.1). Archaean rock samples are rare to find and it must be stated that evidence shown here is not a true representative of life in the Archaean, but a window for interpretation by scientists. Stromatolites Stromatolites are one of the oldest fossils, dating back to approximately 3.3-3.8 Ga, . Research led by

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