{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T01:22:57Z","timestamp":1773278577541,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Geological Society of London","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,27]],"date-time":"2009-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1235692800000},"content-version":"stm-asf","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15223\/policy-002"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JGS"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract:<\/jats:title>\n          <jats:p>\n            Field relations, structure and geochronology demonstrate that controversial rocks on Akilia, SW Greenland, cannot host evidence of Earth's oldest life. Mafic\u2013ultramafic gneiss that contains a layer of quartz\u2013amphibole\u2013pyroxene gneiss, a few metres thick, with purported biogenic graphite is not cross-cut by the protoliths of &gt;3.82\u20133.65 Ga tonalitic gneiss. The contact between these gneisses is tectonic so their relative ages are unknown. Multiple episodes of intrusion and deformation in the tonalitic gneiss preceded the earliest deformation fabrics and structures seen in the mafic\u2013ultramafic gneiss. Although previously interpreted as a volcano-sedimentary stratigraphy, the mafic\u2013ultramafic gneiss displays no evidence of such an origin, and could be partly or wholly derived from igneous intrusions. Existing geochronology indicates that the mafic\u2013ultramafic and qtz\u2013am\u2013px gneisses have ages &lt;3.67 Ga. Metamorphic zircon in the qtz\u2013am\u2013px gneiss grew at\n            <jats:italic>c<\/jats:italic>\n            . 2.68 Ga during late Archaean high-grade events that complicate any protolith interpretation. U\u2013Pb dating of apatite from a variety of rocks on Akilia shows that this mineral crystallized, or possibly recrystallized, at\n            <jats:italic>c<\/jats:italic>\n            . 1.75 Ga and it thus provides no indication of an early Archaean age for any associated graphite, regardless of whether or not the latter is biogenic.\n          <\/jats:p>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Supplementary material:<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>\n              Ion microprobe U\u2013Pb analytical methods and isotope data tables are available at\n              <jats:uri xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" xlink:href=\"http:\/\/www.geolsoc.org.uk\/SUP18333\" xlink:type=\"simple\">http:\/\/www.geolsoc.org.uk\/SUP18333<\/jats:uri>\n              .\n            <\/jats:p>\n          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