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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 247–252 (1 April 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo154

End-Permian ozone shield unaffected by|[nbsp]|oceanic hydrogen sulphide and methane|[nbsp]|releases

Michael B. Harfoot , John A. Pyle & David J. Beerling

Earth experienced repeated episodes of widespread surface and deep-ocean anoxia with a significant accumulation of sulphide-rich waters over the past two billion years. The resulting massive releases of hydrogen sulphide from the oceans, together with methane from the geosphere, have been suggested as a cause for mass extinctions through destruction of the ozone shield and a lethal accumulation of hydrogen sulphide at the surface.