The oxygen evolution of our own planet may hold the key to discovering life elsewhere.
We set out to explore and reconstruct atmospheric oxygen levels during the NOE to see what conditions the first animals appeared under. To do this, we built a computer model of the Earth, incorporating knowledge about the various processes which can deliver oxygen to the atmosphere or remove it.
We looked at isotopes of carbon known as carbon-12 and carbon-13, which do not undergo radioactive decay. Plants prefer to use carbon-12 - the lightest isotope - during photosynthesis, leaving the seawater and subsequently the rocks which form on the ocean floor enriched in carbon-13 instead. This approach might sound a little strange, and you might ask why there was nothing more direct for us to measure. This is because most geological evidence from this time is not preserved, and these carbon isotope ratios are one of the few well-defined data sets we have through this time period.
Our research shows that atmospheric oxygen probably continued this dance between high and low levels until plants gained a foothold on the land some 450 million years ago.These results are intriguing for a number of reasons. We have often thought that the relative stability that Earth has experienced for much of the last 4.5 billion years is necessary for life to flourish. After all, when big events, such as asteroid impacts, have occurred it has not gone well for some of Earth’s inhabitants .
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