Earliest Life on Earth: Habitats, Environments and Methods of Detection

1. Introduction
Miryam Glikson, Suzanne D. Golding

2. Earliest Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems on Earth: Comparison with Modern Analogues
Suzanne D. Golding, Lawrence J. Duck, Elisa Young, Kim A. Baublys, Miryam Glikson, Balz S. Kamber

3. Archaean Hydrothermal Systems in the Barberton Greenstone Belt and Their Significance as a Habitat for Early Life
Axel Hofmann

4. Birth of Biomolecules from the Warm Wet Sheets of Clays Near Spreading Centers
Lynda B. Williams, John R. Holloway, Brandon Canfield, Christopher R. Glein, Jeffrey M. Dick, Hilairy E. Hartnett, Everett L. Shock

5. Towards a Null Hypothesis for Stromatolites
Martin D. Brasier

6. Trace Element Geochemistry as a Tool for Interpreting Microbialites
Gregory E. Webb, Balz S. Kamber

7. A Modern Perspective on Ancient Life: Microbial Mats in Sandy Marine Settings from the Archean Era to Today
Nora Noffke

8. Early Life Record from Nitrogen Isotopes
Daniele L. Pinti, Ko Hashizume

9. Integration of Observational and Analytical Methodologies to Characterize Organic Matter in Early Archaean Rocks: Distinguishing Biological from Abiotically Synthesized Carbonaceous Matter Structures
Miryam Glikson, Arthur H. Hickman, Lawrence J. Duck, Suzanne D. Golding, Robyn E. Webb

10. Bugs or Gunk? Nanoscale Methods for Assessing the Biogenicity of Ancient Microfossils and Organic Matter
Bradley T. Gregorio, Thomas G. Sharp, Ahmed I. Rushdi, Bernd R. T. Simoneit

11. What Can Carbon Isotopes Tell Us About Sources of Reduced Carbon in Rocks from the Early Earth?
Thomas M. McCollom

Keywords: Earth Sciences, Biogeosciences, Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Evolutionary Biology