Magmatic and thermally produced reactive phosphorus 3.2 billion years ago and its implications for early life

Reduced and polymerized phosphorus species may have been crucial for the origin and early evolution of life, as they are more reactive and soluble than phosphate. Thermal processes could have produced these phosphorus species; however, the underlying mechanism is poorly constrained, and geological evidence of polymerized species in the Precambrian is so far absent. Here, we investigated contact-metamorphic rocks from the ca. 3.22 Ga Moodies Group (South Africa), where mafic dikes intruded into shallow-marine sediments. We provide evidence of magmatic phosphite (up to 2.85 ppm) and metamorphic polyphosphate (up to 39.3 ppm). Additional laboratory experiments suggest that carbon can facilitate the thermal production of polyphosphates and reduced phosphorus species, including phosphide, from less reactive minerals such as apatite and vivianite. We conclude that magmatic and thermal-metamorphic rocks could have provided soluble and reactive phosphorus species crucial for the origin and early evolution of life.