Jena Johnson

Jan 31, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Alice Zhou |Alexis Templeton |Jena Johnson

1 INTRODUCTION Chemical sediments are an important tool in the reconstruction of ancient environments, as their chemical and mineralogical compositions offer a glimpse into the (bio)geochemical processes that prevailed during their deposition and reworking. Authigenic chemical sediments that precipitated out of Archean (4.0–2.5 Ga) oceans can provide information about ancient marine geochemistry and early microbial life.

Nov 13, 2023 | nature.com | Jena Johnson

Identifying the metal micronutrients required by early life could help to illuminate how primitive organisms arose, but which metals were biologically available in ancient seawater has not been determined. A new experimental framework suggests how the precipitation of iron minerals from seawater reduced the availability of key metals, particularly zinc, copper and vanadium.