Abstract
Precambrian banded iron formations (BIFs) consist of alternating layers of silica and iron minerals such as haematite, magnetite and siderite1,2, but there is controversy as to the origin of the iron. According to one point of view, iron was precipitated from sea water containing Fe(II) ions in solution3,4. Because the photodissociation of water vapour in the Precambrian atmosphere would have been too slow to generate enough of the most probable oxidizing agent, oxygen5, this process would have had to wait for the evolution of organisms producing oxygen. Cairns-Smith6 and Braterman et al.7 alternatively suggested abiotic photodissociation of FeOH+. Through the use of a Precambrian ocean model, I demonstrate here that such a process can quantitatively account for the formation of known BIFs.
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François, L. Extensive deposition of banded iron formations was possible without photosynthesis. Nature 320, 352–354 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320352a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320352a0
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