Putative indigenous carbon-bearing alteration features in martian meteorite Yamato 000593.

We report the first observation of indigenous carbonaceous matter in the martian meteorite Yamato 000593. The carbonaceous phases are heterogeneously distributed within secondary iddingsite alteration veins and present in a range of morphologies including areas composed of carbon-rich spheroidal assemblages encased in multiple layers of iddingsite. We also observed microtubular features emanating from iddingsite veins penetrating into the host olivine comparable in shape to those interpreted to have formed by bioerosion in terrestrial basalts.

Diversity in the Archean biosphere: new insights from NanoSIMS.

The origin of organic microstructures in the approximately 3 Ga Farrel Quartzite is controversial due to their relatively poor state of preservation, the Archean age of the cherts in which they occur, and the unusual spindle-like morphology of some of the forms. To provide more insight into the significance of these microstructures, nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) maps of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, silicon, and oxygen were obtained for spheroidal and spindle-shaped constituents of the Farrel Quartzite assemblage. Results suggest that the structures are all bona fide approximately 3 Ga microfossils.