Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Carbonate sedimentary rocks (limestone and dolostone) are the single best source of information about Earth's surface conditions, the evolution of Earth's biotas, and the chemical state of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere through most of the last 2.5 billion years. Earth's surface conditions changed dramatically and permanently through that interval, from initial conditions almost entirely unlike those of today, to conditions that loosely resemble the modern Earth. Understanding this long but critical transition requires a detailed understanding of the carbonate rocks deposited in Earth's early oceans. This research aims to contribute new perspectives on the evolution of carbonate-depositional systems from the early Earth, the evidence of early microbial life that they contain, and the information they can convey about the economically valuable metal deposits that they host. The work will be dominated by field research in northern Canada, augmented by analytical microscopy and geochemistry. Outcomes will contribute to our understanding of what the early Earth was like and how microbial life developed and evolved. It will also provide insight into why carbonate-hosted metal deposits are located where they are, information which will aid in the discovery of other mineral deposits of economic importance to Canada.