Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Earth science

Sea change for the rise of oxygen

Nature volume 478, pages 194–195 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

A model proposes that falling sea levels shifted the make-up of volcanic gases on the early Earth, triggering a chain of events that may have allowed photosynthesis in the ocean to oxygenate the atmosphere. See Letter p.229

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Sulphur isotopic data through Earth's history.

References

  1. Gaillard, F., Scaillet, B. & Arndt, N. T. Nature 478, 229–232 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Brocks, J. J., Logan, G. A., Buick, R. & Summons, R. E. Science 285, 1033–1036 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rasmussen, B., Fletcher, I. R., Brocks, J. J. & Kilburn, M. R. Nature 455, 1101–1104 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rashby, S. E., Sessions, A. L., Summons, R. E. & Newman, D. K. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 15099–15104 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Waldbauer, J. R., Sherman, L. S., Sumner, D. Y. & Summons, R. E. Precambr. Res. 169, 28–47 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Anbar, A. D. et al. Science 317, 1903–1906 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kendall, B. et al. Nature Geosci. 3, 647–652 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Waldbauer, J. R., Newman, D. K. & Summons, R. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 13409–13414 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Farquhar, J., Zerkle, A. L. & Bekker, A. Photosynth. Res. 107, 11–36 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kump, L. R. & Barley, M. E. Nature 448, 1033–1036 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Flament, N., Coltice, N. & Rey, P. F. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 275, 326–336 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Halevy, I., Johnston, D. T. & Schrag, D. P. Science 329, 204–207 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Scott, C. T. et al. Geology 39, 119–122 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kump, L. R. & Seyfried, W. E. Jr Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 235, 654–662 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Konhauser, K. O. et al. Nature 458, 750–753 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Timothy W. Lyons and Christopher T. Reinhard are in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA.,

    Timothy W. Lyons & Christopher T. Reinhard

Authors
  1. Timothy W. Lyons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher T. Reinhard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Timothy W. Lyons or Christopher T. Reinhard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lyons, T., Reinhard, C. Sea change for the rise of oxygen. Nature 478, 194–195 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/478194a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/478194a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing