TY - JOUR A1 - Duda, Jan-Peter A1 - Thiel, Volker A1 - Bauersachs, Thorsten A1 - Mißbach, Helge A1 - Reinhardt, Manuel A1 - Schäfer, Nadine A1 - Van Kranendonk, Martin J. A1 - Reitner, Joachim T1 - Ideas and perspectives: hydrothermally driven redistribution and sequestration of early Archaean biomass – the “hydrothermal pump hypothesis” Y1 - 2018 VL - 15 IS - 5 SP - 1535 EP - 1548 JF - Biogeosciences DO - 10.5194/bg-15-1535-2018 DO - 10.5194/bg-15-1535-2018-supplement DO - 10.23689/fidgeo-2232 N2 - Archaean hydrothermal chert veins commonly contain abundant organic carbon of uncertain origin (abiotic vs. biotic). In this study, we analysed kerogen contained in a hydrothermal chert vein from the ca. 3.5 Ga Dresser Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia). Catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) of this kerogen yielded n-alkanes up to n-C22, with a sharp decrease in abundance beyond n-C18. This distribution ( n-C18) is very similar to that observed in HyPy products of recent bacterial biomass, which was used as reference material, whereas it differs markedly from the unimodal distribution of abiotic compounds experimentally formed via Fischer–Tropsch-type synthesis. We therefore propose that the organic matter in the Archaean chert veins has a primarily microbial origin. The microbially derived organic matter accumulated in anoxic aquatic (surface and/or subsurface) environments and was then assimilated, redistributed and sequestered by the hydrothermal fluids (“hydrothermal pump hypothesis”) UR - http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/6545 ER -