I'm a geochemist with a passion for the early evolution of life. The first billions of years of Earth history are still largely shrouded in mystery. How did life originate? How did Earth's surface environments change so that key forms of metabolism could evolve? And how did this lead to the biosphere we see today? I'm fascinated by these questions, and try to answer them using an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of geology, biology, and chemistry.
Keywords
early life, origin of life, extreme environments, hot springs, geysers, silica, microfossils, stromatolites, biosignatures, Archean, Proterozoic, Precambrian
Researchinterest
My objective is to unravel the early history of life by studying the traces it left in the Precambrian rock record.
Traces of early life are poorly preserved because microorganisms only produced fragile organic materials that easily break down over time. Rare microfossils have been preserved, however, and some microbial communities left macroscopic imprints in sediments, such as characteristic growth-patterns, fabrics, and laminations. I combine geologic field work and geochemical micro-analysis to study these ancient traces of life. I also try to establish how these traces are created and preserved, by studying microbial communities in modern analog environments such as hot springs and geyser systems.
Currenttopics
A selection of the topics I am working on currently:
PROTOS - The role of silica in the dawn of life on our planet
An artist’s vision of the Hadean era, the geochemical scenario of the origin of life that PROTOS will study / Artist: Lucas Chacón, CSIC
The first 600 million years of Earth’s history, known as the Hadean, are a mystery. No geological record exists. This enigma has driven scientists to computational models and sparse laboratory simulations to piece together our planet's earliest conditions and the origins of life. In this context, the ERC-funded PROTOS project aims to revolutionize our understanding of this primordial epoch. PROTOS focuses on recreating Hadean environments through innovative laboratory experiments. By scrutinizing reactions between water, gases, and ancient rock types, PROTOS focuses on the role of silica in the origins of early life-supporting habitats and the genesis and preservation of organic compounds crucial to life’s emergence. This pioneering effort promises to unveil critical insights into Earth’s infancy.
Keypublications
- Jordan, S.F., van Zuilen, M.A., Rouillard, J., Martins, Z., Lane, N. (2024) Prebiotic membrane structures mimic the morphology of alleged early traces of life on Earth. Communications Earth & Environment 5, 234.
- Wilmeth, D.T., Myers, K.D., Lalonde, S.V., Mänd, K., Konhauser, K.O., Grandin, P., van Zuilen, M.A. (2022) Evaporative silicification in floating microbial mats: patterns of oxygen production and preservation potential in silica-undersaturated streams, El Tatio, Chile. Geobiology 20, 310-330.
- Gong, J., Munoz-Saez, C., Wilmeth, D.T., Myers, K.D., Homann, M., Arp, G., Skok, J.R., van Zuilen, M.A. (2021) Morphogenesis of digitate structures in hot spring silica sinters of the El Tatio geothermal field, Chile. Geobiology 20, 137-155.
- Canfield, D.E., van Zuilen, M.A., Nabhan, S., Bjerrum, C.J., Zhang, S., Wang, H., Wang, X. (2021) Recycled carbon in ancient sediments constrains Proterozoic Era atmospheric oxygen levels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 , No.23, e2101544118.
- Homann, M., Sansjofre, P., van Zuilen, M.A., Heubeck, C., Gong, J., Killingsworth, B., Foster, I.S., Airo, A., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Ader, M., Lalonde, S.V. (2018) Microbial life and biogeochemical cycling on land 3,220 million years ago. Nature Geoscience, 11, 665-671.
- Rouillard, J., Garcia-Ruiz J-M, Gong, J., van Zuilen M.A. (2018) A Morphogram for Silica-Witherite Biomorphs and its application to microfossil Identification in the early Earth rock record. Geobiology, 16, 279-296.
- Sforna, M.C., van Zuilen, M.A., Philippot, P. (2014) Structural characterization by Raman hyperspectral mapping of organic carbon in the 3.46 billion-year-old Apex chert, Western Australia. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 124, 18-33.
- Lepland, A., Joosu, L., Kirsimäe , K., Prave, A.R., Romashkin, A.E., Črne, A.E., Martin, A.P., Fallick, A.E., Somelar, P., Üpraus, K., Mänd, K., Roberts, N.M.W., van Zuilen, M.A., Wirth, R., Schreiber, A. (2014) Potential influence of sulphur bacteria on Palaeoproterozoic phosphogenesis. Nature Geoscience, 7, 20-24.
- Dauphas, N., van Zuilen, M.A., Wadhwa, M., Davis, A.M., Marty, B., Janney, P.E. (2004). Clues from Fe isotope variations on the origin of early Archaean BIFs from Greenland. Science 306, 2077-2080.
- van Zuilen, M.A., Lepland, A., Arrhenius, G. (2002). Reassessing the evidence for the earliest traces of life. Nature 418, 627-630.
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