A new discovery of possible primitive life-forms in conglomerates of the Archaean Pietersburg greenstone belt, South Africa

Abstract

Spherical aggregates of carbonaceous matter measuring 0.2 to 1.0 mm in diameter were recently discovered in conglomerates of the Achaean Pietersburg greenstone belt in the Northern Transvaal, South Africa. Identical carbonaceous material, the so-called “flyspeck carbon”, occurs abundantly in the approximately 2'600 m. y. old sediments of the Witwatersrand Basin and has been considered to represent vegetative diaspores of primitive columnar plants. If this interpretation is correct, the occurrence of “fly-speck carbon“ outside the Witwatersrand Basin indicates that differentiated life-forms also existed in other suitable depository environments and probably appeared earlier than previously thought.