Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29507886›Full record

ArticleScience advances2018

Archean kerogen as a new tracer of atmospheric evolution: Implications for dating the widespread nature of early life.

David V Bekaert, Michael W Broadley, Frédéric Delarue, Guillaume Avice, Francois Robert, Bernard Marty

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Fluid inclusions: tiny windows into global paleo-environments.Communications earth & environment · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

David V BekaertCentre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, UMR 7358, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.ORCID 0000-0002-1062-6221
Michael W BroadleyCentre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, UMR 7358, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.ORCID 0000-0002-5031-4687
Frédéric DelarueInstitut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Universités-Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris 06, UMR CNRS 7590, IRD UMR 206, Paris, France.
Guillaume AviceDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0962-0049
Francois RobertInstitut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Universités-Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris 06, UMR CNRS 7590, IRD UMR 206, Paris, France.
Bernard MartyCentre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, UMR 7358, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding the composition of the Archean atmosphere is vital for unraveling the origin of volatiles and the environmental conditions that led to the development of life. The isotopic composition of xenon in the Archean atmosphere has evolved through time by mass-dependent fractionation from a precursor comprising cometary and solar/chondritic contributions (referred to as U-Xe). Evaluating the composition of the Archean atmosphere is challenging because limited amounts of atmospheric gas are trapped within minerals during their formation. We show that organic matter, known to be efficient at preserving large quantities of noble gases, can be used as a new archive of atmospheric noble gases. Xe isotopes in a kerogen isolated from the 3.0-billion-year-old Farrel Quartzite (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) are mass fractionated by 9.8 ± 2.1 per mil (‰) (2σ) per atomic mass unit, in line with a progressive evolution toward modern atmospheric values. Archean atmospheric Xe signatures in kerogens open a new avenue for following the evolution of atmospheric composition through time. The degree of mass fractionation of Xe isotopes relative to the modern atmosphere can provide a time stamp for dating Archean kerogens and therefore narrowing the time window for the diversification of early life during the Archean eon.

Indexed as

AtmosphereBiological EvolutionOrigin of LifeChemical FractionationGeologic SedimentsIsotopesNoble GasesSpectrum Analysis, RamanTime FactorsIsotopesNoble Gases

Identifiers

PMID29507886
PMCPMC5834008

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.