CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 200Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth Systems and Cosmic EvolutionGeological and Geochemical Analysis

Biogeochemical modelling of the rise in atmospheric oxygen

CLAIRE, M. W., CATLING, D. C., ZAHNLE, K. J.·2006·Geobiology
DOI 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2006.00084.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Understanding the evolution of atmospheric molecular oxygen levels is a fundamental unsolved problem in Earth's history. We develop a quantitative biogeochemical model that simulates the Palaeoproterozoic transition of the Earth's atmosphere from a weakly reducing state to an O 2 ‐rich state. The purpose is to gain an insight into factors that plausibly control the timing and rapidity of the oxic transition. The model uses a simplified atmospheric chemistry (parameterized from complex photochemical models) and evolving redox fluxes in the Earth system. We consider time‐dependent fluxes that include organic carbon burial and associated oxygen production, reducing gases from metamorphic and volcanic sources, oxidative weathering, and the escape of hydrogen to space. We find that the oxic transition occurs in a geologically short time when the O 2 ‐consuming flux of reducing gases falls below the flux of organic carbon burial that produces O 2 . A short timescale for the oxic transition is enhanced by a positive feedback due to decreasing destruction of O 2 as stratospheric ozone forms, which is captured in our atmospheric chemistry parameterization. We show that one numerically self‐consistent solution for the rise of O 2 involves a decline in flux of reducing gases driven by irreversible secular oxidation of the crust caused by time‐integrated hydrogen escape to space in the preoxic atmosphere, and that this is compatible with constraints from the geological record. In this model, the timing of the oxic transition is strongly affected by buffers of reduced materials, particularly iron, in the continental crust. An alternative version of the model, where greater fluxes of reduced hydrothermal cations from the Archean seafloor consume O 2 , produces a similar history of O 2 and CH 4 . When climate and biosphere feedbacks are included in our model of the oxic transition, we find that multiple ‘Snowball Earth’ events are simulated under certain circumstances, as methane collapses and rises repeatedly before reaching a new steady‐state.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2006.00084.x

Cites

187 of 187 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Permanent atmospheric oxygenation requires ~3 × 10−3 PAL O2 or more to prevent a destabilizing positive feedback of photochemical destruction of tropospheric O2.

    “Permanent atmospheric oxygenation requires ~3 × 10−3 PAL O2 or more to prevent a destabilizing positive feedback of photochemical destruction of tropospheric O2 that otherwise occurs when an incipient ozone column is still transparent to far UV (44, 121, 122).”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [121]

  • Some emphasize the role of hydrogen escape to space in oxidizing solid Earth, lowering Earth's capacity to release O2-consuming reductants.

    “Some emphasize the role of hydrogen escape to space in oxidizing solid Earth, lowering Earth’s capacity to release O2-consuming reductants (121, 135, 136).”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [121]

  • These O2 levels would have only been attained when the O2 flux from the burial of organic carbon exceeded the kinetically efficient sink from O2-consuming gases from volcanism and metamorphism plus fluxes of reducing cations such as Fe2+ from seafloor vents.

    “These O2 levels would have only been attained when the O2 flux from the burial of organic carbon exceeded the kinetically efficient sink from O2-consuming gases (CO, H2, H2S, and SO2) from volcanism and metamorphism plus fluxes of reducing cations such as Fe2+ from seafloor vents (9, 120, 121, 123, 124).”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [121]

  • The model reproduces the rapid rise of oxygen and predicts a time lag of ~10 My between the increase in pO2 and the subsequent rise in sulfate from ~10 μM to >1 mM.

    “Our model both reproduces the rapid rise of oxygen (53, 54) (consistent with the rapid disappearance of S-MIF in the cores we analyzed here) and predicts a time lag of ~10 My between the increase in pO2 and the subsequent rise in sulfate from ~10 μM to >1 mM (Fig. 4); this is comparable to the lag in isotope signals estimated above.”

    From Rapid oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere 2.33 billion years ago (2016) · cites this paper as [53]

  • FVR is the flux of reductants from volcanic gas (mostly H2) and decreases with time.

    “FVR is the flux of reductants from volcanic gas (mostly H2) and decreases with time (53).”

    From Rapid oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere 2.33 billion years ago (2016) · cites this paper as [53]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

5 of the 192 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
CLAIRE, M. W., CATLING, D. C., & ZAHNLE, K. J.
Affiliations
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Ames Research Center (US)
Corresponding author
CLAIRE, M. W.
ORCID
Venue
Geobiology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2006-10-27
Volume
4
Issue
4
Pages
239-269
ISSN
  • 1472-4669 (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-4677
DOI
10.1111/j.1472-4669.2006.00084.x
OpenAlex
W2169379116
Cited by
200
References
192
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Geobiology (publishedVersion)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
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 › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
Keywords
atmospheric oxygen rise, Great Oxidation, Paleoproterozoic, biogeochemical modeling, organic carbon burial, reducing gases, oxidative weathering, hydrogen escape, stratospheric ozone, positive feedback, methane, Snowball Earth

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review