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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis half a billion years before the Great Oxidation Event
Nature Geoscience, Volume 7, No. 4, Year 2014
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Description
The early Earth was characterized by the absence of oxygen in the ocean-atmosphere system, in contrast to the well-oxygenated conditions that prevail today. Atmospheric concentrations first rose to appreciable levels during the Great Oxidation Event, roughly 2.5-2.3 Gyr ago. The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis is generally accepted to have been the ultimate cause of this rise, but it has proved difficult to constrain the timing of this evolutionary innovation. The oxidation of manganese in the water column requires substantial free oxygen concentrations, and thus any indication that Mn oxides were present in ancient environments would imply that oxygenic photosynthesis was ongoing. Mn oxides are not commonly preserved in ancient rocks, but there is a large fractionation of molybdenum isotopes associated with the sorption of Mo onto the Mn oxides that would be retained. Here we report Mo isotopes from rocks of the Sinqeni Formation, Pongola Supergroup, South Africa. These rocks formed no less than 2.95 Gyr ago in a nearshore setting. The Mo isotopic signature is consistent with interaction with Mn oxides. We therefore infer that oxygen produced through oxygenic photosynthesis began to accumulate in shallow marine settings at least half a billion years before the accumulation of significant levels of atmospheric oxygen. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Planavsky, Noah J.
United States, New Haven
Yale University
Asael, Dan
France, Plouzane
Ifremer Institut Francais de Recherche Pour L'exploitation de la Mer
Hofmann, Axel
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
Reinhard, Christopher T.
United States, Pasadena
California Institute of Technology
Lalonde, Stefan V.
France, Plouzane
Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer Iuem
Knudsen, Andrew C.
United States, Appleton
Lawrence University, Appleton
Wang, Xiangli
United States, New Haven
Yale University
United States, Urbana
University of Illinois Urbana-champaign
Ossa Ossa, Frantz Gerard
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
Pecoits, Ernesto
Canada, Edmonton
University of Alberta
Smith, Albertus J.B.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
Beukes, Nicholas Johannes
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
Bekker, Andrey Yu
United States, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
Johnson, Thomas M.
United States, Urbana
University of Illinois Urbana-champaign
Konhauser, Kurt O.
Canada, Edmonton
University of Alberta
Lyons, Timothy W.
United States, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
Rouxel, Olivier J.
France, Plouzane
Ifremer Institut Francais de Recherche Pour L'exploitation de la Mer
Statistics
Citations: 444
Authors: 16
Affiliations: 9
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/ngeo2122
ISSN:
17520894
e-ISSN:
17520908
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
South Africa