Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
A 200-million-year delay in permanent atmospheric oxygenation
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
A 200-million-year delay in permanent atmospheric oxygenation
Do you wish to request the book?
A 200-million-year delay in permanent atmospheric oxygenation
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
A 200-million-year delay in permanent atmospheric oxygenation
2021
Overview
The rise of atmospheric oxygen fundamentally changed the chemistry of surficial environments and the nature of Earth’s habitability
1
. Early atmospheric oxygenation occurred over a protracted period of extreme climatic instability marked by multiple global glaciations
2
,
3
, with the initial rise of oxygen concentration to above 10
−5
of the present atmospheric level constrained to about 2.43 billion years ago
4
,
5
. Subsequent fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen levels have, however, been reported to have occurred until about 2.32 billion years ago
4
, which represents the estimated timing of irreversible oxygenation of the atmosphere
6
,
7
. Here we report a high-resolution reconstruction of atmospheric and local oceanic redox conditions across the final two glaciations of the early Palaeoproterozoic era, as documented by marine sediments from the Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa. Using multiple sulfur isotope and iron–sulfur–carbon systematics, we demonstrate continued oscillations in atmospheric oxygen levels after about 2.32 billion years ago that are linked to major perturbations in ocean redox chemistry and climate. Oxygen levels thus fluctuated across the threshold of 10
−5
of the present atmospheric level for about 200 million years, with permanent atmospheric oxygenation finally arriving with the Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion at about 2.22 billion years ago, some 100 million years later than currently estimated.
Sulfur isotope and iron–sulfur–carbon systematics on marine sediments indicate that permanent atmospheric oxygenation occurred around 2.22 billion years ago, about 100 million years later than currently estimated.
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
Subject
/ Carbon
/ Climate
/ Geologic Sediments - chemistry
/ Glaciers
/ Humanities and Social Sciences
/ Isotopes
/ Oxygen
/ Science
/ Seawater
/ Sulfur
