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Resources and Environmental Geochemistry Lab
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The lab explores the origin and evolution of life through both fieldwork and experiments.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering the origin and evolution of life through geochemistry
The Resources and Environmental Geochemistry Lab uses geochemistry to investigate when and how life emerged, and how the Earth and life have evolved together.
Using geological and geochemical methods, the lab searches for the oldest traces of life, reconstructs the Earth environments where early life lived, and studies how life contributed to the formation of ore deposits.
The lab investigates the formation of organic matter and the chemical evolution leading to the birth of life using methods from geochemistry, organic chemistry, and molecular biology.
A distinctive feature of the lab is that it pursues the origin of life from two sides: fieldwork and simulation experiments.
Key terms
- Chemical evolution
- The process before the birth of life in which the molecules that serve as materials for life gradually change into more complex molecules
- Sedimentary rock
- Rock formed when sand and mud accumulate on the seafloor and elsewhere. It sometimes preserves traces of organisms from the time
- Modern analog
- An approach that reconstructs ancient life and Earth conditions by studying present-day microbes and sediments
NewsLab news
Research by a graduate published in GCA
Research by an Assistant Professor published in Systematic and Applied Microbiology
Research by a graduate published in PNAS
A master's student received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2025
Research by a graduate published in GCA
ResearchResearch themes
The lab takes a geoscience approach to three questions: how the building-block molecules of life formed and evolved chemically, where the oldest traces of life on Earth are found, and how early life and the Earth influenced each other as they evolved. Besides surveying and analyzing rocks, the lab conducts experiments that assume early Earth conditions and studies present-day microbes and sediments.
*Illustrative imageWhere did the building-block molecules of life come from?
The lab reproduces in the laboratory the chemical reactions that occurred when iron-bearing meteorites struck the early Earth's ocean, and confirms the formation of amino acids and other compounds. It also studies the formation of sugars and the chemical evolution into RNA and proteins, focusing on boric acid.
*Illustrative imageSearching for the oldest traces of life
In the Isua region of Greenland, the lab conducted geological surveys jointly with Danish researchers and newly discovered carbon-bearing sedimentary rocks that preserve traces of life about 3.7 billion years old. Using methods such as electron microscopy analysis of the crystal structure of carbon, the lab presents evidence of life from this era.
*Illustrative imageOxygen-producing life and the Earth's environment
The lab investigates when organisms began to produce oxygen, which changed both life and the Earth's environment. It surveys sediments from various periods around the world, such as from about 3.7 billion to 1.9 billion years ago, and analyzes traces of life and minerals that indicate the environment of the time.
*Illustrative imageReading the ancient past from modern microbes
This is a modern analog study that examines the relationships between microbes in present-day hot springs and submarine hydrothermal vents and the minerals and spring components around them, in order to reconstruct how ancient microbes lived. The lab also studies the Kuroko ore deposits in Akita Prefecture, which were formed by submarine hydrothermal activity about 15 million years ago.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Resources and Environmental Geochemistry Lab are a Professor, an Assistant Professor, a Project Professor who also holds a post at the Organization for Advanced Liberal Arts Education and Student Support, and PhD, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakeshi Kakegawa
- Project ProfessorYumiko Watanabe
- Assistant ProfessorYuya Tsukamoto
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Analyse des éléments chimiques dans l'eau (Ifremer )” Stephane Lesbats / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Where did the building-block molecules of life come from?: “Meteorite impact 2” Alexander Gerst / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Searching for the oldest traces of life: “Graphitic BIF (meta-BIF) (Eoarchean, 3.8 Ga; Isua Supracrustal Belt, southwestern Greenland) ( )” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Oxygen-producing life and the Earth's environment: “Stromatolithe Paléoarchéen - MNHT.PAL.” Didier Descouens / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Reading the ancient past from modern microbes: “Microbial mat - asessions” Alicejmichel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Planetary Organic Geochemistry Lab): “Kolang Meteorite” Ahmad Fairuz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Early Solar System Evolution Lab): “Northwest Africa (NWA) 2224 Meteorite Thin Section” Solaranamnesis / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Mineralogy Lab): “Natural Mineral Crystal Display” QueenCityCebu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ocean Floor Science Lab): “Earth seafloor crust age 1996 - 2” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
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