In a stunning revelation, recent discoveries suggest that complex life on Earth may have emerged a staggering 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought. For much of the planet's first three billion years, life existed as simple, single-celled microbes, with evolution crawling at a snail's pace due to a critical lack of phosphorus.

Phosphorus, an essential nutrient for DNA creation, cellular stability, and energy processes, was locked away, preventing life from evolving beyond microscopic forms. However, around 2.1 billion years ago, a cataclysmic event changed everything. When the Congo and São Francisco continental blocks collided, it set off volcanic activity that flooded a now-famous inland sea in Gabon – the Francevillian sub-basin – with nutrient-rich fluids filled with phosphorus.

The Impact of Volcanic Activity on Life