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From orogenies to oxygen

Nature Geoscience volume 11, pages 9–10 (2018)Cite this article

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Tectonic controls on atmospheric oxygenation are frequently invoked — but whether geochemical records support these ties is an unsettled question.

The rise of atmospheric oxygen on Earth is a foremost example of life transforming a planet. But the onset of photosynthesis is only part of the tale of oxygen on Earth. Reducing agents, which come largely from Earth’s interior and crust, react with and remove the oxygen from the atmosphere. In this light, tectonic and magmatic processes are as essential as biological processes in controlling atmospheric oxygen levels. In the first volume of Nature Geoscience, published almost a decade ago, Campbell and Allen1 helped trigger a new wave of research investigating such links. By comparing records of past tectonic activity with records of atmospheric oxygen levels, they suggested that intervals of extensive mountain building associated with supercontinent assembly correlate with step increases in atmospheric oxygen levels over time.

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Fig. 1: An updated compilation of detrital zircon abundances through Earth’s history.

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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Noah Planavsky

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  1. Noah Planavsky
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Correspondence to Noah Planavsky.

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Planavsky, N. From orogenies to oxygen. Nature Geosci 11, 9–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0040-1

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