No climate paradox under the faint early Sun

Rosing, Minik T.; Bird, Dennis K.; Sleep, Norman H.; Bjerrum, Christian J.

doi:10.1038/nature08955

Cited by 258Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth Systems and Cosmic EvolutionOrigins and Evolution of Life

No climate paradox under the faint early Sun

Rosing, Minik T., Bird, Dennis K., Sleep, Norman H., Bjerrum, Christian J.·2010·Nature

DOI 10.1038/nature08955

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Abstract

Environmental niches in which life first emerged and later evolved on the Earth have undergone dramatic changes in response to evolving tectonic/geochemical cycles and to biologic interventions, as well as increases in the Sun's luminosity of about 25 to 30 per cent over the Earth's history. It has been inferred that the greenhouse effect of atmospheric CO(2) and/or CH(4) compensated for the lower solar luminosity and dictated an Archaean climate in which liquid water was stable in the hydrosphere. Here we demonstrate, however, that the mineralogy of Archaean sediments, particularly the ubiquitous presence of mixed-valence Fe(II-III) oxides (magnetite) in banded iron formations is inconsistent with such high concentrations of greenhouse gases and the metabolic constraints of extant methanogens. Prompted by this, and the absence of geologic evidence for very high greenhouse-gas concentrations, we hypothesize that a lower albedo on the Earth, owing to considerably less continental area and to the lack of biologically induced cloud condensation nuclei, made an important contribution to moderating surface temperature in the Archaean eon. Our model calculations suggest that the lower albedo of the early Earth provided environmental conditions above the freezing point of water, thus alleviating the need for extreme greenhouse-gas concentrations to satisfy the faint early Sun paradox.

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Siderite in Archean IFs has been proposed as a pCO2 proxy if it precipitated in equilibrium with the atmosphere.
“Siderite (FeCO3) in Archean IFs has been proposed as a pCO2 proxy if it precipitated in equilibrium with the atmosphere (170, 171).”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [170]
Some FYS hypotheses invoke clouds: that the Archean Bond albedo was low because of substantially different cloud cover or that abundant high-altitude cirrus clouds warmed early Earth.
“Some FYS hypotheses invoke clouds: that the Archean Bond albedo was low because of substantially different cloud cover (170, 209) or that abundant high-altitude cirrus clouds warmed early Earth (210).”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [170]
The results are inconsistent with a late Archean pCO2 significantly higher than today as argued by Rosing et al. (2010), since rapid atmospheric escape would be unavoidable in that scenario.
“Our results are inconsistent with such a low pCO 2 since rapid atmospheric escape would be unavoidable in this scenario.”
From The young Sun's XUV-activity as a constraint for lower CO2-limits in the Earth's Archean atmosphere (2021) · cites this paper as Rosing et al. 2010

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Authors: Rosing, M. T., Bird, D. K., Sleep, N. H., & Bjerrum, C. J.
Affiliations: Stanford University (US)
University of Copenhagen (DK)
Corresponding author: Rosing, Minik T.
ORCID: Rosing, Minik T.
Sleep, Norman H.
Bjerrum, Christian J.
Venue: Nature
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2010-04
Volume: 464
Issue: 7289
Pages: 744-747
ISSN: 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
1476-4687
DOI: 10.1038/nature08955
OpenAlex: W1970418159
Cited by: 258
References: 52
Citations by year: 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 23
FWCI: 21.13
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations: Nature (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
Funders: Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
Keywords: greenhouse effect, atmospheric CO2, methane, banded iron formations, magnetite, methanogenic archaea, cloud condensation nuclei, early Earth atmosphere, early Earth tectonics, early Earth geochemistry
MeSH terms: Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, Climate, Freezing, Hydrogen, Models, Theoretical, Partial Pressure, Sunlight, Water, Greenhouse Effect, Ecosystem, Earth, Planet, Geologic Sediments, History, Ancient

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