newhope101
Active Member
I understand that all current theories at hand for the emergence of life are based on an anaerobic world. The fossil record stops around 3.5 billion years ago with cynobacteria.
I read that hematite finds in Australia have found that Earths atmosphere was oxygen rich much earlier that the the great oxygen event 2.5 billion years ago.
This research has found a well oxygenated earth 3.46 billion years ago.
Therefore it appears that the earth was oxygenated at the time where our fossil record begins. The article suggested a rethink about how the atmosphere evolved.
Below is an excert:
"Everyone agrees that this jasper is 3.46 billion years old," said Ohmoto. "If hematite were formed by the oxidation of siderite at any time, the hematite would be found on the outside of the siderite, but it is found inside," he reported in a recent issue of Nature Geoscience.
In fact, the researchers suggest that to have sufficient oxygen at depth, there had to be as much oxygen in the atmosphere 3.46 billion years ago as there is in today's atmosphere. To have this amount of oxygen, the Earth must have had oxygen producing organisms like cyanobacteria actively producing it, placing these organisms much earlier in Earth's history than previously thought.
I read that hematite finds in Australia have found that Earths atmosphere was oxygen rich much earlier that the the great oxygen event 2.5 billion years ago.
This research has found a well oxygenated earth 3.46 billion years ago.
Therefore it appears that the earth was oxygenated at the time where our fossil record begins. The article suggested a rethink about how the atmosphere evolved.
Below is an excert:
"Everyone agrees that this jasper is 3.46 billion years old," said Ohmoto. "If hematite were formed by the oxidation of siderite at any time, the hematite would be found on the outside of the siderite, but it is found inside," he reported in a recent issue of Nature Geoscience.
In fact, the researchers suggest that to have sufficient oxygen at depth, there had to be as much oxygen in the atmosphere 3.46 billion years ago as there is in today's atmosphere. To have this amount of oxygen, the Earth must have had oxygen producing organisms like cyanobacteria actively producing it, placing these organisms much earlier in Earth's history than previously thought.