Revisiting the oldest evidence for life on Earth
Name of applicant
Kristoffer Szilas
Title
Associate Professor
Institution
University of Copenhagen
Amount
DKK 95,000
Year
2024
Type of grant
Field Trips / Research Stays < 100,000
Summary
This travel grant supports fieldwork at Isua, Greenland. The aim of the trip is to collect samples across the locality that hosts the oldest (>3.7 Ga) proposed evidence for life on Earth. A detailed investigation of the new samples, using geochemistry and thermodynamic modelling, will test the hypothesis that the organic matter at this site is far younger (~2.6 Ga) than previously assumed.