Whether or not the fossils were authentic was disputed in the past, as abiotic processes could not be ruled out.[4][5] Currently the fossils are thought to be of biological origin, however there is no conclusive evidence of fossilized organisms in the formation, and whether the lines in the rock are fossilized stromatolites.[6]
^Derenne, S.; Robert, F.; Skrzypczak-Bonduelle, A.; Gourier, D.; Binet, L.; Rouzaud, J.-N. (July 2008). "Molecular evidence for life in the 3.5 billion year old Warrawoona chert". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 272 (1–2): 476–480. Bibcode:2008E&PSL.272..476D. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.05.014.
^Schopf, J. W.; Packer, B. M. (September 1986). "Newly discovered early Archean (3.4–3.5 Ga Old) microorganisms from the Warrawoona Group of Western Australia". Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere. 16 (3–4): 339–340. Bibcode:1986OrLi...16..339S. doi:10.1007/BF02422059. S2CID39363922.
^Brasier, M. D.; Green, O. R.; Jephcoat, A. P.; Kleppe, A. K.; Van Kranendonk, M. J.; Lindsay, J. F.; Steele, A.; Grassineau, N. V. (March 2002). "Questioning the evidence for Earth's oldest fossils". Nature. 416 (6876): 76–81. Bibcode:2002Natur.416...76B. doi:10.1038/416076a. PMID11882895. S2CID819491.
^Wacey, D.; Kilburn, M. R.; Saunders, M.; Cliff, J.; Brasier, M. D. (August 2011). "Microfossils of sulphur-metabolizing cells in 3.4-billion-year-old rocks of Western Australia". Nature Geoscience. 4 (10): 698–702. Bibcode:2011NatGe...4..698W. doi:10.1038/ngeo1238.
^DiMarco, Michael J.; Lowe, Donald R. (August 1989). "Stratigraphy and sedimentology of an early Archean felsic volcanic sequence, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia, with special reference to the Duffer Formation and implications for crustal evolution". Precambrian Research. 44 (2): 147–169. Bibcode:1989PreR...44..147D. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(89)90080-6.
Australia
