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Nature 443, 643-645 (12 October 2006) | doi:10.1038/443643a; Published online 11 October 2006

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Earth sciences: Ups and downs of ancient oxygen

James F. Kasting1

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The latest models suggest that atmospheric oxygen could have fluctuated between high and low concentrations once photosynthesis had evolved. But does the geological evidence really support this?

The ancient rise of atmospheric oxygen is of great interest because of its close relationship with evolution, but the geological evidence for this is indirect and subject to interpretation. The consensus for more than 30 years has been that atmospheric oxygen first reached appreciable levels around 2 billion to 2.

  1. James F. Kasting is in the Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
    Email: kasting@essc.psu.edu

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