WORLDS OLDEST LIFE FORMS

These look for all the world like some type of rock but they contain some of the earliest forms of life that exist on the planet today. 'it's not the sight of stromatolites that makes them exciting. It's the idea of them' - Bill Bryson

The rock like structure is produced by the excretions of a type of blue-green algae that is thought to have originated some 3,500 million years ago. There are some 50 species of cyanobacteria found at the Hamelin Pool site alone. They are the simplest form of single cell life known to exist.

The structures formed by the microorganisms grow very slowly. Estimates put the growth rate at around just half a millimetre a year. Hamelin Pool is one of only two places in the world where these structures occur.

The cyanobacteria secrete a sticky residue that attracts and holds sand and sediment and over time this solidifies to create the structures we call stromatolites. It is only the outer layer of the structure that contains the living organism.

The structures built by these microscopic creatures can be as high as 1.5 metres and they can live in the sea at a depth of up to 4 metres. (As they depend on sunlight 4 metres is the maximum depth they can grow at.)

A related organism called a thrombolite is found in Lake Clifton south of Mandurah.

It is thought that organisms similar to these originally helped lay down the immense iron ore deposits in the state's north west. The organisms seem to require shallow water and the influx of fresh groundwater that is high in calcium carbonate. During photosynthesis the algae lays down this calcium carbonate and keeps on building up the structure it lives on.

(C) http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/bioastro-prebiotique2.htm

As they grow very slowly they are unable to exist in environments that have a large diversity of life as they are easily out-competed. Hamelin Pool is cut off from the main ocean by a bank of silt called the Faure Sill. This restricts the entry of fresh sea water and maintains very high salinity in the pool area. This in turn restricts the types of sea life that can exist in the pool. It is likely that with rising sea levels that very soon the Sill will be breached and other types of life like corals may displace the stromatolites.

It is also believed that these life forms were responsible for building up the oxygen content of the atmosphere to about 20% and this allowed  the evolution of oxygen breathing species including human beings, so although stromatolites may look rather unimpressive we actually may not have existed if they had not been there in the beginning.

Another location where stromatolites can be found is at Lake Thetis 12 Km south east of Cervantes.

Other Old Life Forms

While stromatolites are an ancient life form, they are not individually that old. If we are looking for something that is alive today that has been alive for a very long time as an individual, then it is hard to find anything in W.A. that is older than the Meelup Mallee tree. Scientists estimate that this one individual is over 6,000 years old.

There is currently an attempt under way to clone the tree using tissue culture, as there are no others left for this one remaining to cross pollinate and so it never sets any seed.

It currently sits at the top of our rarest and most endangered species list.

As a comparison, the oldest living individual organism on the plant is a species of Huon pine living in Tasmania that is believed to be at least 15,000, and possibly up to 25,000 years old.

Ancient Land

While we are on the subject of things ancient, it is difficult not to mention the land itself. Although not a living thing in itself, it is that land that supports a vast array of life and when animals become fossilised, helps us 'see' into the past.

Western Australia contains some of the oldest undisturbed land on Earth. The eastern states were no more than mud at the bottom of an ancient sea when W.A. was already very old.

In a place called Jack Hills, zircons have been discovered that were created around 4.4 billion years ago. Although there was no life on Earth that long ago, the zircon crystals contain elements that allow scientists to find out what conditions were like at the time. To date, these zircons are the oldest terrestrial objects ever found on Earth.