Fluctuations in Precambrian atmospheric oxygenation recorded by chromium isotopes

Robert Frei (), Claudio Gaucher, Simon W. Poulton and Don E. Canfield
Additional contact information
Robert Frei: Institute of Geography and Geology and Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE), University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Claudio Gaucher: Institute of Geography and Geology and Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE), University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Simon W. Poulton: School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Don E. Canfield: Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE) and Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55

Nature, 2009, vol. 461, issue 7261, 250-253

Abstract: The rise and fall of oxygen The oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere is thought to have occurred in two broad steps, but details of the process remain uncertain. Frei et al. use stable chromium (Cr) isotopes from banded iron formations, which are sedimentary rocks containing large amounts of oxygen as iron oxides, to track the presence of Cr(VI) in Precambrian oceans, providing a time-resolved picture of the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere–hydrosphere system. Their data suggest a transient elevation in atmospheric and surface ocean oxygenation prior to the first great rise of oxygen 2.45 to 2.2 billion years ago (the Great Oxidation Event). Chromium is not fractionated in 1.88-billion-year-old banded iron formations, indicating a decline in atmospheric oxygen. The authors propose that the Great Oxidation Event did not lead to a unidirectional stepwise increase in atmospheric oxygen.

Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08266 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:461:y:2009:i:7261:d:10.1038_nature08266

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature08266

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().