Abstract
The recognition of microfossils in ancient sedimentary rocks has confirmed that microorganisms which strongly resemble presentday prokaryotes existed at least 3 × 109 years ago1. Identification of these structures is a difficult task, complicated not only by the simple morphology of microorganisms, but also by our limited understanding of the processes leading to the mineralization of individual cells and their component parts2–4. We have investigated these processes in a natural setting, by examining sediment samples from an acidic hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of thin-sectioned specimens revealed remains of bacteria inside accumulations of iron and silica. Bacterial-like forms in successive stages of mineral preservation by silica were also found
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Ferris, F., Beveridge, T. & Fyfe, W. Iron-silica crystallite nucleation by bacteria in a geothermal sediment. Nature 320, 609–611 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320609a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320609a0
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