The Biology Behind Banded Iron Formations | News

The rocks of this formation can be 3.7-3.8 billion years old, and include the oldest known BIF s on Earth. Ultimately, the isotopic signatures in the rocks suggested that oxidation of Fe(II) was most likely the result of anoxygenic photosynthesis (i.e. photosynthesis that doesn't produce oxygen).

RESEARCH FOCUS: The life and times of banded iron formations

Banded iron formations (BIFs) have been at the center of many debates in geology, especially regarding the early (i.e., Archean and Paleoproterozoic) Earth and its surface environments. BIFs are chemical sedimentary rocks that have an anomalously high iron content (>15 wt% Fe) and typically contain layers of chert ( Klein, 2005 ).

Banded Iron Formation | SpringerLink

Banded iron formation (BIF) is a lithological term applied to a thinly bedded or laminated chemical sedimentary rock consisting of successive layers of fine-grained quartz, iron oxides, carbonates, and/or silicates, typically containing 20–40% of iron and 40–50% of silica (Trendall 2002; Klein 2005 ). Overview.

Banded-iron formation (BIF) | Britannica

banded-iron formation (BIF), chemically precipitated sediment, typically thin bedded or laminated, consisting of 15 percent or more iron of sedimentary origin and layers of chert, chalcedony, jasper, or quartz. Such formations occur on all the continents and usually are older than 1.7 billion years. They also are highly metamorphosed.

Banded Iron Formation | SpringerLink

Banded iron formations (BIFs) comprise the largest iron resource on Earth. They formed throughout much of the Precambrian (∼3800–543 Ma), reaching their maximum abundance between 2700 and 2400 Ma ago. Numerous examples can be found on almost every continent.

Banded Iron Formation

Banded iron formations are worldwide layered sedimentary deposits rich in iron that range in age from 1.5 to 3.8 billion years old, the age of the earliest known rocks. They contain 30–60% Fe 3+ . No molecular oxygen was present in the earth's atmosphere until 1.5–2.0 billion years ago.

Banded Iron Formation | AMNH

A nearly 3-billion-year-old banded iron formation from Canada shows that the atmosphere and ocean once had no oxygen. Photosynthetic organisms were making oxygen, but it reacted with the iron dissolved in seawater to form iron oxide minerals on the ocean floor, creating banded iron formations.

2470 million-year-old banded iron formation reveals a …

Banded iron formations (BIFs) are distinctive Precambrian chemical sedimentary deposits with alternating iron and silica-rich bands precipitated from ferruginous oceans 14.

Banded iron formation

Banded iron formations (BIFs; also called banded ironstone formations) are distinctive units of sedimentary rock consisting of alternating layers of iron oxides and iron-poor chert. They can be up to several hundred meters in thickness and extend laterally for several hundred kilometers.

Iron Record: Ancient Rocks Tell the Story of Oxygen, and Life

Banded Iron Formation Beautiful striped rocks dating billions of years ago tell story of the dramatic risings and fallings of the cyanobacteria. Two billion years ago, the Earth had no plants and no animals.