We have discovered the earliest evidence of fresh water and representative evidence for dry land above the sea,” he added. The research indicates that the Earth’s water cycle — when water moves between land, oceans and atmosphere through evaporation and precipitation — was operating at that point in time. The earliest widely agreed upon evidence of life — and fresh water — comes from stromatolites, fossilized microbes that formed mounds in hot springs 3.5 billion years ago, Gamaleldien said. Two zircon crystals showed isotopic evidence of meteoric or fresh water; one was 4 billion years old, while the other was 3.4 billion years old, he said. What’s more, land and fresh water, which likely would have fallen as rain, would have provided the essential ingredients for the origin of life, he said.

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Persons: ”, Hamed Gamaleldien, ” Gamaleldien, Gamaleldien, … landmasses, Hugo Olierook, Hamed, “, John Valley, Geochemist Beth Ann Bell, wasn’t, ” Bell Organizations: CNN, Nature, “, Curtin University’s School of, Planetary Sciences, Khalifa University, United Arab, Curtin’s School of, geoscience, University of Wisconsin Locations: Australia, United Arab Emirates, Western Australia, Jack, John, Madison