Microfossil-like objects from the Archaean of Greenland - A cautionary note

Abstract

Recent reports have described 'yeast-like microfossils' (Isuasphaera isua Pflug) in 3,800-million year old metaquartzites from the Isua supracrustal belt of south-west Greenland. A biogenic interpretation of these objects is inconsistent with the tectonic history of the Isua region, with the petrology of the metaquartzites, and with the morphology of the microstructures themselves. The putative microfossils are indistinguishable from limonite-stained fluid inclusions: microstructures which are demonstrably inorganic and post-depositional in origin. As such, it is contended that these objects should not be regarded as evidence of early Archaean life forms.