Paleoarchean Era

Oldest indirect evidence of life

The Paleoarchean is the second era in the Archean Eon, occurring after the Eoarchean Era, and before the Mesoarchean Era.

Age

Eon

Subdivisions

Above: Group of 3.4 billion year old tubular fossil forms (David Wacey/UWA)

What happened during this time?

Biological

Geophysical


Right: Fig 8 from Drabon et al. 2024

Additional Resources

Drabon et al. (2024) Effect of a giant meteorite impact on Paleoarchean surface environments and life

Moody et al. (2024) The nature of the last universal common ancestor and its impact on the early Earth system.

Cavalazzi et al. (2021) Cellular remains in a ~3.42-billion-year-old subseafloor hydrothermal environment.