Editing Chert (section)

==Fossils==
[[File:Tung Ping Chau 6.jpg|thumb|An erosion resistant layer of chert in the [[Eocene]] [[Ping Chau Formation]], Hong Kong]]

The [[cryptocrystalline]] nature of chert, combined with its above average ability to resist weathering, [[Recrystallization (geology)|recrystallization]] and [[metamorphism]] has made it an ideal rock for preservation of early life forms.<ref>[https://www.uni-muenster.de/GeoPalaeontologie/Palaeo/Palbot/seite1.html ''The Earliest Life: Annotated listing''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426221356/http://www.uni-muenster.de/GeoPalaeontologie/Palaeo/Palbot/seite1.html |date=2006-04-26 }}</ref>

For example:
* The 3.2 [[Gya (unit)|Ga]] chert of the [[Fig Tree Formation]] in the Barberton Mountains between [[Eswatini]] and South Africa preserved non-colonial [[unicellular]] bacteria-like fossils.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Barghoorn |first1= E.S. |year=1971 |title=The oldest fossils |journal=Scientific American |volume=224 |number=5 |pages=30–43 |doi= 10.1038/scientificamerican0571-30 |jstor=24927793|pmid= 4994765 |bibcode= 1971SciAm.224e..30B }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Byerly |first1=Gary R. |last2=Lower |first2=Donald R. |last3=Walsh |first3=Maud M. |title=Stromatolites from the 3,300–3,500-Myr Swaziland Supergroup, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa |journal=Nature |date=February 1986 |volume=319 |issue=6053 |pages=489–491 |doi=10.1038/319489a0|bibcode=1986Natur.319..489B |s2cid=4358045 }}</ref>
* The [[Gunflint Chert]] of western Ontario (1.9 to 2.3 Ga) preserves not only bacteria and [[cyanobacteria]] but also organisms believed to be ammonia-consuming and some that resemble [[green algae]] and fungus-like organisms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schopf |first1=J. William |title=Cradle of life : the discovery of earth's earliest fossils |date=2001 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=9780691088648 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJHBAolcIk8C |access-date=10 July 2021}}</ref><ref>[http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/paleochron/05_e.php Gunflint chert] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050612083155/http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/paleochron/05_e.php |date=2005-06-12 }}</ref>
* The [[Apex Chert]] (3.4 Ga) of the [[Pilbara craton]], Australia preserved eleven taxa of [[prokaryotes]].<ref>[http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2003/pdf/1267.pdf ''Biogenicity of Microfossils in the Apex Chert'']</ref> However, these findings have been disputed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Portion Of Ancient Australian Chert Microstructures Definitively Pseudo-Fossils |url=https://carnegiescience.edu/news/portion-ancient-australian-chert-microstructures-definitively-pseudo-fossils |website=Carnegie Science |publisher=Carnegie Institution for Science |access-date=10 July 2021 |date=16 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wacey |first1=David |last2=Saunders |first2=Martin |last3=Kong |first3=Charlie |last4=Brasier |first4=Alexander |last5=Brasier |first5=Martin |title=3.46 Ga Apex chert 'microfossils' reinterpreted as mineral artefacts produced during phyllosilicate exfoliation |journal=Gondwana Research |date=August 2016 |volume=36 |pages=296–313 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2015.07.010|bibcode=2016GondR..36..296W |hdl=2164/9044 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
* The [[Bitter Springs Group|Bitter Springs Formation]] of the [[Amadeus Basin]], Central Australia, preserves 850 Ma cyanobacteria and algae.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schopf |first1=J. William |title=Microflora of the Bitter Springs Formation, Late Precambrian, Central Australia |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=42 |number=3 |year=1968 |pages=651–88 |jstor=1302368.}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/bittersprings.html Cyanobacertial fossils of the Bitter Springs Chert, UMCP Berkeley]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wacey |first1=David |last2=Eiloart |first2=Kate |last3=Saunders |first3=Martin |title=Comparative multi-scale analysis of filamentous microfossils from the c. 850 Ma Bitter Springs Group and filaments from the c. 3460 Ma Apex chert |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |date=November 2019 |volume=176 |issue=6 |pages=1247–1260 |doi=10.1144/jgs2019-053|bibcode=2019JGSoc.176.1247W |s2cid=189976198 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* The [[Rhynie chert]] (410 Ma) of Scotland has remains of a [[Devonian]] land flora and fauna with preservation so perfect that it allows cellular studies of the fossils.<ref name="GarwoodOliver2019">{{cite journal|last1=Garwood|first1=Russell J|last2=Oliver|first2=Heather|last3=Spencer|first3=Alan R T|title=An introduction to the Rhynie chert|journal=Geological Magazine|volume=157|issue=1|year=2019|pages=47–64|issn=0016-7568|doi=10.1017/S0016756819000670|s2cid=182210855|url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/an-introduction-to-the-rhynie-chert(19df3309-02af-4d25-b75b-1299cf541fac).html}}</ref>