Published February 20, 2014
| public
Journal Article
The rise of oxygen in Earth's early ocean and atmosphere
Abstract
The rapid increase of carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's modern atmosphere is a matter of major concern. But for the atmosphere of roughly two-and-half billion years ago, interest centres on a different gas: free oxygen (O2) spawned by early biological production. The initial increase of O2 in the atmosphere, its delayed build-up in the ocean, its increase to near-modern levels in the sea and air two billion years later, and its cause-and-effect relationship with life are among the most compelling stories in Earth's history.
Additional Information
© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Received 11 April 2013. Accepted 21 January 2014. Published online 19 February 2014. Funding from NSF-EAR, the NASA Exobiology Program, the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and the Agouron Institute supported this work. C.T.R. acknowledges support from an O. K. Earl Postdoctoral Fellowship in Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. N.J.P. acknowledges support from NSF-EAR-PDF.Comments and criticism from A. Bekker, D. Erwin, I. Halevy and D. Johnston improved the manuscript. A. Bekker was helpful in discussions about the GOE and suggested the acronym 'GOT'.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 44535
- DOI
- 10.1038/nature13068
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140326-154738501
- NSF-EAR
- NASA Exobiology Program
- NASA Astrobiology Institute
- Agouron Institute
- Caltech Geological and Planetary Sciences O. K. Earl Postdoctoral Fellowship
- NSF-EAR-PDF
- Created
-
2014-03-28Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field