Crushing extraction and carbon isotope analysis of methane-bearing fluid inclusions in ˜3.5-Gyr-old hydrothermal precipitates from Australia has revealed that they contain microbial methane — providing the oldest evidence of methanogenesis and pre-dating previous geochemical evidence by about 700 million years.
- Yuichiro Ueno
- Keita Yamada
- Yukio Isozaki