Behind  the iron curtain: How methane-making microbes kept the early Earth warm

ScienceDaily

April 17, 2017

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170417131016.htm

Summary:

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences use tropical mud to gain a better understanding of early Earth. They  now realize that ancient microbes used rust as a source of energy and likely suppressed early methanotrophs.

Connections:

This reminds me of the unit on microbial metabolism. I think it shows just how diverse microbes are and how they can survive in the most inhospitable environments.  This is also interesting to me because we did not talk about microbes that used iron very much nor did we talk about how they competed with early methanotrophs.

Critical Analysis:

It is interesting how microbes seem to survive any condition and the struggles they seemed to have with other microbes. I thought it was very interesting to see how the microbes fought for survival in early Earth. I had never thought of the struggle for life on a microscopic scale. I think that this is scientifically accurate and cannot find any facts that I do not agree with.

Question:

Excluding Indonesia’s Lake Matano, are there other places that facilitate this type of microbial living?