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.

Global change

Probing early atmospheres

Nature volume 425, pages 249–250 (2003)Cite this article

Information about atmospheric conditions far back in Earth's history is embedded in the isotopic composition of fossil microbes. Such studies are technically demanding, but hold considerable promise.

What were atmospheric CO2 concentrations like during the Proterozoic eon, the interval of Earth's history between about 2,500 million and 543 million years ago? The issue is germane to studies of the ancient biosphere because, owing to the way in which the Sun's composition and other properties evolved, its luminosity is thought to have increased gradually over time. Aside from a small contribution from internal heating that is driven by radioactive decay, the surface temperatures of a planet are governed by the amount of solar radiation it receives and how this interacts with the atmosphere. The fact that greenhouse gases, chiefly CO2 (but also water vapour and methane), re-radiate infrared radiation to the surface keeps the present average surface temperature some 33 K above what it would otherwise be. Models of solar luminosity1 indicate that if the greenhouse had not been much greater early in Earth's history, global glaciation should have held sway throughout the Proterozoic and the preceding Archaean eon, which stretches back to about 3,900 million years ago.

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

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

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

Figure 1

SHUHAI XIAO

References

  1. Sagan, C. & Mullen, G. Science 177, 52–56 (1972).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kaufman, A. J. & Xiao, S. Nature 425, 279–282 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Xiao, S., Knoll, A. H., Kaufman, A. J., Yin, L. & Zhang, Y. Precamb. Res. 84, 197–220 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Javaux, E. J., Knoll, A. H. & Walter, M. R. Nature 412, 66–69 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Shen, Y., Knoll, A. H. & Walter, M. R. Nature 423, 632–635 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tyrrell, T. Nature 400, 525–531 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. House, C. H. et al. Geology 28, 707–710 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rye, R., Kuo, P. H. & Holland, H. D. Nature 378, 603–605 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bahcall, J. N., Pinsonneault, M. H. & Basu, S. Astrophys. J. 555, 990–1012 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Walker, J. C. G., Hays, P. B. & Kasting, J. F. J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9776–9782 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kasting, J. F. Science 259, 920–926 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Pavlov, A. A., Hurtgen, M. T., Kasting, J. F. & Arthur, M. A. Geology 31, 87–90 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Knoll, A. H. Geobiology 1, 3–14 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Center for Astrobiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309-0399, Colorado, USA

    Stephen J. Mojzsis

Authors
  1. Stephen J. Mojzsis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mojzsis, S. Probing early atmospheres. Nature 425, 249–250 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/425249a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/425249a

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