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.

Early Earth

Abiotic reactions on early Earth

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, page 602 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Life drives oxygen and methane cycling on Earth today, but before the origin of early organisms and oxygenic photosynthesis, geochemical cycling looked much different. Abiotic reactions driven by photolysis, thermolysis and water–rock interactions instead played a more dominant role, as described in two studies.

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

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

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

References

Original articles

  • He, H. et al. A mineral-based origin of Earth’s initial hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2221984120 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ernst, L. et al. Methane formation driven by light and heat prior to the origin of life and beyond. Nat. Commun. 14, 4364 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment https://www.nature.com/natrevearthenviron

    Laura Zinke

Authors
  1. Laura Zinke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Zinke.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zinke, L. Abiotic reactions on early Earth. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 602 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00480-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00480-3

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