Anoxygenic photosynthesis modulated Proterozoic oxygen and sustained Earth's middle age
Open accessAbstract
Molecular oxygen (O 2 ) began to accumulate in the atmosphere and surface ocean ca. 2,400 million years ago (Ma), but the persistent oxygenation of water masses throughout the oceans developed much later, perhaps beginning as recently as 580–550 Ma. For much of the intervening interval, moderately oxic surface waters lay above an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) that tended toward euxinia (anoxic and sulfidic). Here we illustrate how contributions to primary production by anoxygenic photoautotrophs (including physiologically versatile cyanobacteria) influenced biogeochemical cycling during Earth's middle age, helping to perpetuate our planet's intermediate redox state by tempering O 2 production. Specifically, the ability to generate organic matter (OM) using sulfide as an electron donor enabled a positive biogeochemical feedback that sustained euxinia in the OMZ. On a geologic time scale, pyrite precipitation and burial governed a second feedback that moderated sulfide availability and water column oxygenation. Thus, we argue that the proportional contribution of anoxygenic photosynthesis to overall primary production would have influenced oceanic redox and the Proterozoic O 2 budget. Later Neoproterozoic collapse of widespread euxinia and a concomitant return to ferruginous (anoxic and Fe 2+ rich) subsurface waters set in motion Earth's transition from its prokaryote-dominated middle age, removing a physiological barrier to eukaryotic diversification (sulfide) and establishing, for the first time in Earth's history, complete dominance of oxygenic photosynthesis in the oceans. This paved the way for the further oxygenation of the oceans and atmosphere and, ultimately, the evolution of complex multicellular organisms.
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Sulfide could have sustained primary production through anoxygenic photosynthesis, with H2S serving as the electron source.
“Sulfide could have sustained primary production through anoxygenic photosynthesis, with H2S serving as the electron source (see Section 4.2.1; Johnston et al., 2009).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Johnston et al., 2009
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- Authors
- Johnston, D. T., Wolfe-Simon, F., Pearson, A., & Knoll, A. H.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138; and
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-10-06
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 40
- Pages
- 16925-16929
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2753640
- OpenAlex
- W2159329271
- Cited by
- 329
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 20.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- 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
- anoxygenic photosynthesis, oxygen minimum zone, euxinia, cyanobacteria, primary production, pyrite precipitation, biogeochemical feedbacks, ocean redox state, Neoproterozoic, eukaryotic diversification, atmospheric oxygenation, evolution of multicellularity
- MeSH terms
- Cyanobacteria, Anaerobiosis, Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, Iron, Light, Models, Biological, Nitrogen Fixation, Oceans and Seas, Oxidation-Reduction, Oxygen, Photosynthesis, Seawater, Sulfides, Earth, Planet
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