The Pilbara is a vast desert region, and includes the town of Marble Bar, reputed to be the hottest place on the continent. It's also home to some of the oldest rocks on Earth, dating from the Archean period of geological history.
NASA's Virtual Field Trip
Explore the Pilbara, and its ancient life forms, for yourself, via NASA's Virtual Field Trip:
Australian Center for Astrobiology, Macquarie University
Home base for many of the researchers seen during the field trip:
ACA's pages supporting LOOKING FOR LIFE and the Pilbara field trip
The Archean period (2.5-3.8 BYA)
The Geological Survey of Western Australia's pages on stromatolites
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay, and specifically Hamelin Pool, is one of the most dramatic and beautiful examples of contemporary stromatolites, some as much as 6,000 years old. PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE shot here through the permission of the Department of Conversation and Land Management, Western Australia.
Appearing in this segment:
Jack Farmer, Arizona State University, NASA Mars rover science team
Bruce Runnegar, Director, NASA Astrobiology Institute
Malcolm Walter, Director, Australian Center for Astrobiology (ACA)
Malcolm Walter, Director, Australian Center for Astrobiology (ACA)
Abby Allwood, ACA, Macquarie U.
Adrian Brown, ACA, Macquarie & NASA Ames Research Center (Adrian has now completed his PhD at ACA, and is working on current and future Mars missions at NASA Ames, in Mountain View, CA.)
Stefan Leuko, ACA, Macquarie U.
Martin Van Kranendonk, Geological Survey of Western Australia
Martin Van Kranendonk, Geological Survey of Western Australia
See also:
Profiles of Martin, Arthur Hickman, and Kath Grey
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View a Stromatolite with a Virtual Microscope |
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