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The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ~2.4–2.3 Ga and the Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event (NOE) at ~0.8–0.54 Ga, were transformative events that catalyzed the development of global geological, geochemical, and biological processes, paving the way for the diversification of life. Advancements in biogeochemistry, geochemistry, and mineralogy studying the Precambrian record have revealed that these, along with other weaker oxygenation pulses, affected differently the course of Earth's reducing and oxidizing (redox) processes, based on the amount of available oxygen and its effects on Earth’s biogeochemical processes. Understanding the specifics of these events provides valuable insights into the processes that brought Earth’s redox conditions closer to their contemporary state and their impact in shaping life's diversification.
This cross-journal Collection presents articles that enhance our understanding of the two primary oxygenation events that occurred on the Early Earth, as well as the weaker events that preceded and followed them. The articles in this Collection show the connection between the oxygenation events and the changes happening in the solid Earth, its atmosphere, oceans, and all biogeochemical cycles within these systems. We welcome submissions from diverse disciplines, such as biogeochemistry, geochemistry, petrology, and mineralogy.
Oxygen levels in the ocean increased three times between the early Ediacaran and the early Cambrian, in synchrony with major developments in animal evolution.
Abiotic oxidation of silicate minerals is possible via homolysis of Si–O bonds, with greater efficiency for more felsic minerals, according to an experimental investigation which suggests this process could have produced reactive oxygen species during the Archean.
Emerging sulfur isotope data divides opinion surrounding the Great Oxidation Event. Utilising computational approaches and additional data, Uveges et al. reconcile these disparities, offering a more refined framework of atmospheric oxygenation.
Recycling of sedimentary phosphorus driven by increasing oceanic sulfide availability contributed to the persistent oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere, according to analysis of Archean drill-core samples and biogeochemical modelling
The identification of distinct pyrite-marcasite rosettes in the Doushantuo Formation, South China using microscopy and stable isotope analysis, suggests frequent oxygenation events on the early Ediacaran continental shelves during the emergence of complex life.
Geochemical data from sedimentary rocks in Siberia indicate that members of the soft-bodied Ediacara biota (the earliest macroscopic life on Earth) were tolerant of low-oxygen conditions, suggesting they had the capacity for anaerobic metabolisms.
Iron input into the ocean is a key control on mineral–organic preservation, and therefore the accumulation of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, according to a theoretical model and supported by proxy records for iron phases and cycling.
The co-evolution of oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere and lithosphere is still poorly constrained. However, the oxidation state of manganese minerals reveals that the redox state of Earth’s crust responds to changes in atmospheric oxygen following a ~66 million-year time lag.
Arsenic-consuming microbes of the hypersaline Laguna La Brava in Chile may be an analogue for early life during the anoxic conditions of the Archean, according to geochemical and metagenomic analyses of the extant microbial mats