The DOI matches its Crossref record; 68 of the 68 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A 200-million-year delay in permanent atmospheric oxygenation
Open accessAbstract
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.
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“By some estimates, the onset of the GOE was marked by atmospheric O2 levels that were still relatively low and variable (e.g., Poulton et al., 2021).”
From Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview (2021) · cites this paper as Poulton et al., 2021
Citations
Cites
A Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth
Hoffman, P. F., Kaufman, A. J., Halverson, G. P., & Schrag, D. P. (1998) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.281.5381.1342 · Cited by 2,693
Atmospheric Influence of Earth's Earliest Sulfur Cycle
Farquhar, J., Bao, H., & Thiemens, M. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.289.5480.756 · Cited by 1,805
The use of chromium reduction in the analysis of reduced inorganic sulfur in sediments and shales
Canfield, D. E., Raiswell, R., Westrich, J. T., Reaves, C. M., & Berner, R. A. (1986) · Chemical Geology · doi:10.1016/0009-2541(86)90078-1 · Cited by 1,450
Self-citationDating the rise of atmospheric oxygen
Bekker, A., Holland, H. D., Wang, P.-L., Rumble, D., Stein, H. J., Hannah, J. L., Coetzee, L. L., & Beukes, N. J. (2004) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature02260 · Cited by 1,435
Self-citationPoulton, S. W., & Canfield, D. E. (2004) · Chemical Geology · doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2004.09.003 · Cited by 1,350
Self-citationTHE EARLY HISTORY OF ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN: Homage to Robert M. Garrels
Canfield, D. E. (2005) · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences · doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122711 · Cited by 1,032
Self-citationFerruginous conditions: a dominant feature of the ocean through Earth's history
Poulton, S. W., & Canfield, D. E. (2011) · Elements · doi:10.2113/gselements.7.2.107 · Cited by 1,018
Self-citationVolcanic gases, black smokers, and the great oxidation event
Holland, H. D. (2002) · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/s0016-7037(02)00950-x · Cited by 920
Pavlov, A. A., & Kasting, J. F. (2002) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/153110702753621321 · Cited by 912
Sources of iron for pyrite formation in marine sediments
Raiswell, R., & Canfield, D. E. (1998) · American Journal of Science · doi:10.2475/ajs.298.3.219 · Cited by 818
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Coetzee, L. L. Genetic Stratigraphy of the Paleoproterozoic Pretoria Group in the Western Transvaal. MSc thesis, Rand Afrikaans Univ. (2001).
- Visser, J. N. J. The Timeball Hill Formation at Pretoria—a prograding shore-line deposit. Annals Geol. Surv. Pretoria 9, 115–118 (1972).
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The interplay between microbial communities and soil properties
Philippot, L., Chenu, C., Kappler, A. A., Rillig, M. C., & Fierer, N. (2023) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/s41579-023-00980-5 · Cited by 1,545
Secular Evolution of Continents and the Earth System
Cawood, P. A., Chowdhury, P., Mulder, J. A., Hawkesworth, C. J., Capitanio, F. A., Gunawardana, P. M., & Nebel, O. (2022) · Reviews of Geophysics · doi:10.1029/2022rg000789 · Cited by 286
Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview
Lyons, T. W., Diamond, C. W., Planavsky, N. J., Reinhard, C. T., & Li, C. (2021) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2418 · Cited by 211
“By some estimates, the onset of the GOE was marked by atmospheric O2 levels that were still relatively low and variable (e.g., Poulton et al., 2021).”
BackgroundSedimentary Ce anomalies: Secular change and implications for paleoenvironmental evolution
Zhang, K., & Shields, G. (2022) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104015 · Cited by 162
Eukaryogenesis and oxygen in Earth history
Mills, D. B., Boyle, R. A., Daines, S. J., Sperling, E. A., Pisani, D., Donoghue, P. C. J., & Lenton, T. M. (2022) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-022-01733-y · Cited by 156
Metadata
- Authors
- Poulton, S. W., Bekker, A., Cumming, V. M., Zerkle, A. L., Canfield, D. E., & Johnston, D. T.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Poulton, Simon W.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2021-03-29
- Volume
- 592
- Issue
- 7853
- Pages
- 232-236
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W3149564522
- Cited by
- 243
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 27
- FWCI
- 28.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (acceptedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX15AP58G)
- Villum Fonden (00016518)
- Leverhulme Trust
- University of Johannesburg
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- atmospheric oxygenation, Great Oxidation, oxygen fluctuations, ocean redox conditions, Transvaal Supergroup, sulfur isotopes, global glaciation, climate instability, marine sediment
- MeSH terms
- Atmosphere, Carbon Isotopes, Carbonates, Climate, Oceans and Seas, Oxidation-Reduction, Oxygen, Seawater, South Africa, Sulfur Isotopes, Time Factors, Ecosystem, Geologic Sediments, History, Ancient
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