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The rise of oxygen in Earth's early ocean and atmosphere

Article  in  Nature · February 2014

DOI: 10.1038/nature13068 · Source: PubMed

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REVIEW doi:10.1038/nature13068

The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early

ocean and atmosphere
Timothy W. Lyons1, Christopher T. Reinhard1,2,3 & Noah J. Planavsky1,4

The rapid increase of carbon dioxide concentration in Earth’s modern atmosphere is a matter of major concern. But for
the atmosphere of roughly two-and-half billion years ago, interest centres on a different gas: free oxygen (O2) spawned
by early biological production. The initial increase of O2 in the atmosphere, its delayed build-up in the ocean, its increase
to near-modern levels in the sea and air two billion years later, and its cause-and-effect relationship with life are among
the most compelling stories in Earth’s history.

ost of us take our richly oxygenated world for granted and timing—namely, the disappearance of distinctive non-mass-dependent

M expect to find O2 everywhere—after all, it makes up 21% of

the modern atmosphere. But free oxygen, at levels mostly less
than 0.001% of those present in the atmosphere today, was anything but
(NMD) sulphur isotope fractionations in sedimentary rocks deposited
after about 2.4–2.3 Gyr ago16 (Fig. 2). Almost all fractionations among
isotopes of a given element scale to differences in their masses; NMD
plentiful during the first half of Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history. Evidence fractionations deviate from this typical behaviour. The remarkable NMD
for a permanent rise to appreciable concentrations of O2 in the atmo- signals are tied to photochemical reactions at short wavelengths involving
sphere some time between 2.4 and 2.1 billion years (Gyr) ago (Fig. 1) gaseous sulphur compounds released from volcanoes into the atmosphere.
began to accumulate as early as the 1960s1. This step increase, now popu- For the signals to be generated and then preserved in the rock record
larly known as the ‘Great Oxidation Event’ or GOE2,3, left clear finger- requires extremely low atmospheric oxygen levels, probably less than
prints in the rock record. For example, the first appearance of rusty red 0.001% of the present atmospheric level (PAL)17, although other prop-
soils on land and the disappearance of easily oxidized minerals such as erties of the early biosphere, such as atmospheric methane abundance18,19
pyrite (FeS2) from ancient stream beds3,4 both point to the presence of and biological sulphur cycling20, certainly modulated the NMD signal.
oxygen in the atmosphere. The notion of a GOE is now deeply entrenched Aware of the possibility that the ‘Great’ in GOE may exaggerate the
in our understanding of the early Earth, with only a few researchers ultimate size of the O2 increase and its impact on the ocean, Canfield21
suggesting otherwise5. defined a generation of research by championing the idea that ultimate
Far more controversial is the timing of the first emergence of O2-producing oxygenation in the deep ocean lagged behind the atmosphere by almost
photosynthesis, the source of essentially all oxygen in the atmosphere. two billion years. Finding palaeo-barometers for the amount (or partial
Among the key questions is whether this innovation came before, or was pressure) of O2 in the ancient atmosphere is a famously difficult challenge,
coincident with, the GOE. Tantalizing organic geochemical data pinpointed but the implication is that oxygen in the atmosphere also remained well
pre-GOE O2 production6, but subsequent claims of contamination cast below modern levels (Fig. 1) until it rose to something like modern values
doubt7,8. Recently, new inorganic approaches have restored some of that about 600 million years (Myr) ago. In this view, this second O2 influx
lost confidence9, and assertions of pre-GOE oxygenesis have bolstered oxygenated much of the deep ocean while enriching the surface waters,
research10,11 that explores buffers or sinks, whereby biological O2 produc- thus welcoming the first animals and, soon after, their large sizes and
tion was simultaneously offset by consumption during reactions with complex ecologies above and within the sea floor.
reduced compounds emanating from Earth’s interior (such as reduced From this foundation, a fundamentally new and increasingly unified
forms of hydrogen, carbon, sulphur and iron). Delivery of these oxygen- model for the rise of oxygen through time is coming into focus (Fig. 1).
loving gases and ions to the ocean and atmosphere, tied perhaps to early Our story begins with the timing of the earliest photosynthetic produc-
patterns of volcanism and their relationships to initial formation and tion of oxygen and its relationship to the sulphur isotope record. After the
stabilization of the continents10,11, must have decreased through time to GOE, we assert that oxygen rose again and then fell in the atmosphere
the point of becoming subordinate to O2 production, which may have and remained, with relatively minor exceptions, at extremely low levels
been increasing at the same time. This critical shift triggered the GOE. In for more than a billion years. This prolonged stasis was probably due to a
other words, buffering reactions that consumed O2 balanced its produc- combination of fascinating biogeochemical feedbacks, and those condi-
tion initially, thus delaying the persistent accumulation of that gas in the tions spawned an oxygen-lean deep ocean. This anoxic ocean probably
atmosphere. Ultimately, however, this source–sink balance shifted in harboured sufficiently large pockets of hydrogen sulphide to draw down
favour of O2 accumulation—probably against a backdrop of progressive the concentrations of bioessential elements and thus, along with the
loss of hydrogen (H2) to space, which contributed to the oxidation of overall low oxygen availability, challenge the emergence and diversifica-
Earth’s surface12–14. Other researchers have issued a minority report chal- tion of eukaryotic organisms and animals until the final big step in the
lenging the need for buffers, arguing instead that the first O2-yielding history of oxygenation and the expansion of life. All of this evidence
photosynthesis was coincident with the GOE15. comes from very old rocks, which present unique challenges—not the
As debate raged over the mechanistic underpinnings of the GOE, least of which is that constant recycling at and below Earth’s surface
there emerged a far less contentious proof (a ‘smoking gun’) of its erases most of the record we seek. But with challenge comes opportunity.
1
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA. 2Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
3
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA. 4Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.

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Oxygenic
–1 100
photosynthesis

log[pO (atm)]

pO (PAL)
–3 10–2

2
2 –5 10–4

4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

Age (Gyr ago)

Figure 1 | Evolution of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen content through time. frontier lies in reconstructing the detailed fabric of ‘state changes’ in
The faded red curve shows a ‘classical, two-step’ view of atmospheric atmospheric pO2 , such as occurred at the transitions from the late part of the
evolution95, while the blue curve shows the emerging model (pO2 , atmospheric Archaean to the early Proterozoic and from the late Proterozoic to the early
partial pressure of O2). Right axis, pO2 relative to the present atmospheric level Phanerozoic (blue boxes). Values for the Phanerozoic are taken from refs 96
(PAL); left axis, log pO2 . Arrows denote possible ‘whiffs’ of O2 late in the and 97.
Archaean; their duration and magnitude are poorly understood. An additional

The first oxygen from photosynthesis biomarkers from eukaryotes strengthens the identification of oxygen
Because oxygenic photosynthesis is the only significant source of free oxy- production because O2 is required, albeit at very low levels27, for bio-
gen on Earth’s surface, any evaluation of our planet’s oxygenation history logical synthesis of their sterol precursors. If correct, these data would
must begin by asking when this metabolism evolved. Yet despite decades extend the first production and local accumulation of oxygen in the ocean
of intensive investigation, there is no consensus. Current estimates span to almost 300 Myr before the GOE as it is now popularly defined (that is,
well over a billion years—from ,3.8 (ref. 22) to 2.35 (ref. 15) Gyr ago— based on the disappearance of NMD fractionations of sulphur isotopes).
almost one-third of Earth’s history. Part of the problem lies with difficult- Contrary studies, however, argue that O2 is not required to explain these
ies in differentiating between oxidation pathways that can be either biotic particular biomarkers15; others challenge the integrity of the primary
or abiotic and can occur with and without free oxygen. Banded iron for- signals, suggesting later contamination instead8. Very recent results from
mations, for example, are loaded with iron oxide minerals that often give ultraclean sampling and analysis also raise serious concern about the
these ancient deposits their spectacular red colours. The prevailing view robustness of the biomarker record during the Archaean28—and in par-
for many years was that microbial oxygen production in the shallow ocean ticular point to contamination for the results of Brocks et al.6 Ironically,
was responsible for oxidizing iron, which was locally abundant in the other- some the best earliest organic evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis may
wise oxygen-free ocean. More recent studies, however, explain this iron lie more with the common occurrence of highly organic-rich shales of
oxidation without free O2—specifically, through oxidation pathways requir- Archaean age than with sophisticated biomarker geochemistry (Box 1).
ing only sunlight (ultraviolet oxidation23 and anoxygenic photosynthesis24,25). Over the past decade, a body of trace-metal and sulphur data has
Microbial fossils of Archaean age (older than 2.5 Gyr; see Fig. 2 for time grown—independent of the biomarker controversy—that also points
units) have very simple morphologies, and it is therefore difficult to link to oxygen production long before the disappearance of NMD sulphur
them to specific metabolisms, such as oxygen-producing photosynthesis. isotope fractionations (Fig. 2). This evidence for early oxygenesis allows
Similarly, the significance, and even the biogenicity, of Archaean stromatolites for at least transient accumulation of the gas in the atmosphere and even
and microbially induced sedimentary structures have long been debated26. for hotspots of production in local, shallow, cyanobacteria-rich marine
Other researchers vied to find more definitive indicators of microbial oases29. Despite some controversy surrounding these inorganic proxy
oxygen production. Among them, Brocks et al.6 published organic bio- approaches (reviewed in ref. 30), many researchers interpret strong
marker data thought to record the presence of cyanobacteria and eukar- trace-metal enrichments in marine sediments as convincing signatures
yotes in 2.7-Gyr-old rocks. Biomarkers are molecular fossils derived from of significant oxidative weathering of pyrite and other sulphide minerals
primary organic compounds that, in the best case, can be tied uniquely to on land long before the GOE—implying O2 accumulation in the atmo-
specific biological producers present at the time the sediments were sphere. Sulphide minerals in the crust are often enriched in the metals of
deposited. Cyanobacteria are important because they were the earliest interest, such as molybdenum (Mo) and rhenium (Re), and when oxi-
important producers of O2 by photosynthesis. Recognition of sterane dized those metals are released to rivers and ultimately the ocean.

Archaean Proterozoic Phanerozoic

16
16 12
12
8
Δ33S (‰)

8
4
δ13C (‰)

4
0 0
–4
–4
–8
–12
4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0
Age (Gyr ago)

Figure 2 | Summary of carbon (black) and sulphur (red and grey) isotope include the large range of D33S values during Archaean time, the large d13C
data through Earth’s history. Data are shown as d13C (left axis and D33S excursion during the early Proterozoic, relative stasis in d13C during the mid-
(5 d33S 2 0.515d34S; right axis). Grey sulphur data were generated by Proterozoic, and the large negative d13C excursions during the late Proterozoic.
secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS); red circles designate all other data— Data are from references as compiled in refs 33 and 53.
bulk and small sample (micro-drilled and laser) analyses. Notable features

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BOX 1
Evidence for oxygen-producing photosynthesis before the GOE
In the face of recent challenges to the Archaean biomarker record, the abundant organic matter from this interval takes on a more general importance.
Specifically, how was this copious organic matter produced, and was O2 a by-product? Photosynthetic life requires both light and a source of reducing
power—an electron donor. Because the ubiquitous H2O molecule is the electron donor for oxygenic photosynthesis, it is reasonable to expect that the
initiation of oxygenic photosynthesis would ‘supercharge’ carbon fluxes through the biosphere. Nevertheless, organic-rich shales are a common
component of the Archaean rock record, and the amount of total organic carbon (TOC) of pre-GOE (Archaean) shales is indistinguishable from TOC
recorded in similar modern and near-modern environments (Box 1 Figure, left).
Three alternative electron donors could power delivery of significant quantities of organic carbon to marine sediments during the Archaean without
releasing O2: hydrogen sulphide (H2S), ferrous iron (Fe21) and molecular hydrogen (H2). Photosynthesis based on H2S is difficult to maintain at
steady state without an external carbon source99, and many organic-rich Archaean shales were deposited from Fe21-containing waters32, arguing
against an H2S-based pathway. Photosynthesis based on Fe21 is another possibility, but this metabolism generates two physically associated
particulate species (organic carbon and solid Fe-oxide minerals) at a relatively constant ratio, and these will mutually annihilate through microbial iron
reduction at roughly the same ratio.
H2-based photosynthesis is more difficult to assess. We can, however, obtain some estimates of the TOC values as a function of H2 fluxes to the
photic zone (Box 1 Figure, right). Even given the very conservative assumptions used here, it is difficult to explain typical Archaean TOC values by H2-
based photosynthesis, let alone the most elevated values from the record. We are thus left with oxygenic photosynthesis as the most likely explanation
for organic-rich shales in the pre-GOE ocean.

10–2

1.0 Neogene (n = 228)

Archaean (n = 281) MAR (g cm–2 yr–1)

0.8 10–3
1.0
0.6
f

0.4 10–4 0.1

0.2
0.01
10–5 0
0.0 3.0 6.0 9.0 12.0 15.0 10 101 102 103
TOC (wt%) pH (p.p.m.v.)
2

Box 1 Figure | The significance of organic carbon content in sedimentary rocks of Archaean age (.2.5 Gyr old). Left, cumulative frequency (f)
distributions for the total organic carbon content (TOC) of Neogene/recent (black trace) and Archaean (dotted red trace) organic-rich sedimentary
rocks from references as compiled in ref. 60. Also shown are the overall average TOC contents for the two data sets (vertical lines). Note that the data for
the two time periods are virtually identical. Right, the combinations of atmospheric H2 content (partial pressure of H2, pH2 ) and sediment mass
accumulation rate (MAR) required to attain a given TOC value (TOC 5 fluxH2/MAR). Black solid contours correspond to a TOC value of 5 wt%, while
grey dashed contours correspond to a value of 10 wt%. The shaded blue box denotes a plausible range for these two parameters, assuming a shelf-to-
outer slope depositional setting100 and results from Archaean ecosystem modelling101. Contours are labelled according to the preservation efficiency
of organic carbon (that is, a value of 1.0 refers to 100% preservation). For comparison, the preservation efficiency of carbon produced in surface waters
in modern anoxic basins (that is, where preservation efficiency is highest in the modern ocean) are of the order of ,1–2% (ref. 102). We assume a
vertical advection rate of 1.0 m d21, typical of regions of vigorous upwelling in the modern coastal ocean103, and an elevated deep-ocean H2
concentration of 100 nM, both of which are extremely conservative for our purposes.

The most publicized examples of such diagnostic metal enrichments— possibility: once NMD signals that formed in an oxygen-poor atmo-
the so-called whiffs of oxygen—come from 2.5-Gyr-old organic-rich shales sphere were captured in pyrite and other minerals in sedimentary rocks,
drilled in Western Australia. All Archaean rocks have experienced com- they would have been recycled when those rocks were later uplifted as
plex histories at and beneath Earth’s surface, and it is important to con- mountain ranges and the pyrite was oxidized33. In other words, rivers
sider the potential overprints on primary geochemical records during and may have delivered recycled sulphur with a strong NMD signal to the
after burial9. However, no coherent secondary alteration model has yet ocean, which can be captured in coeval sediments, long after O2 rose,
emerged to explain the ‘whiff’ metal enrichment patterns, particularly either transiently or permanently, to a point that precluded additional
given their strikingly sympathetic behaviour with other, independent signal generation and preservation in the atmosphere. This ‘crustal
indicators of depositional chemistry and the rhenium–osmium system- memory effect’ allows for the possibility of large and persistent increases
atics that yield both robust depositional ages for the rocks and persuasive of atmospheric oxygen for tens of millions of years or more without
evidence against appreciable alteration9,31. Parsimony currently lies with complete loss of the NMD fingerprint; it would have taken repeated
O2-related processes. cycles of weathering, dilution, burial and uplift beneath an oxygenated
It may at first seem counterintuitive to suggest that O2 was oxidizing atmosphere to erase the NMD signal completely. The message is that
pyrite and other sulphide minerals, which freed up trace metals for sulphur isotope records of NMD fractionation, when viewed through the
delivery to the ocean by rivers, beneath an atmosphere presumed to filter of sedimentary recycling, may complicate efforts to date the GOE
have had very low O2 levels—perhaps much less than 0.001% of PAL. precisely, and atmospheric oxygen levels for periods of the Archaean may
However, such oxidation is possible with only subtle increases in atmo- have been much higher than previously imagined. That said, the broad cause-
spheric O2 content9,32. Also, recent results allow for another intriguing and-effect relationships remain intact: more conventional mass-dependent

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sulphur isotope records, which roughly track the availability of sulphate of sulphur-bearing gases20. Various nutrient-based buffering scenarios
in the ocean and thus oxygen in the ocean–atmosphere system and have also been proposed, and these too may link to long-term trends in
related microbial activity without recycling artefacts, show at least general volcanism43. Regardless of the specific buffer(s), and absent evidence for
agreement with the NMD signal and dramatic and probably coupled dramatic increases in organic burial, the balance between sources and sinks
climate change21,34. Further work on the early sulphur cycle will more ultimately tipped in favour of photosynthetic production perhaps tens of
firmly establish the isotope distributions among the various surface reser- millions of years before the permanent loss of the NMD sulphur isotope
voirs and thus refine the potential importance of early recycling as an signal in rocks dating from 2.4 to 2.3 Gyr ago—and transiently perhaps
overprint on the atmospheric NMD record. hundreds of millions of years earlier.
That the first of the great ‘Snowball Earth’ glaciations is roughly coin-
The GOE cident with the GOE1,44 is probably no coincidence either. Most models
In light of these new perspectives, the GOE might be best thought of as a for the pre-GOE atmosphere assert that comparatively large amounts of
protracted process rather than a discrete event marking the loss of NMD methane (CH4), along with higher hydrocarbon gases such as ethane (C2H6)
sulphur fractionations from the sedimentary record. The GOE defined this resulting from methane photochemistry, were produced and persisted under
way becomes a transitional interval of yo-yo-ing biospheric oxygenation5 the generally low sulphate (SO422) conditions of the Archaean ocean and
during which the ups and downs of O2 concentrations in the atmosphere low O2 in the ocean and atmosphere45–48. Methane is readily oxidized in
reflected a dynamic balance between time-varying early oxygen production the presence of free oxygen, as well as in the absence of oxygen (anaero-
and its concurrent sinks—a scenario more consistent with Holland’s initial bically) when coupled to microbial reduction of a number of different
definition of an extended GOE2. It is likely that the sources overcame the oxidants, most notably sulphate49. Also, in the absence or near absence of
sinks, at first intermittently and then permanently. And any volatility in oxygen and sulphate, a greater amount of labile organic matter is available
atmospheric oxygen content, reflecting perhaps trace-gas behaviour with a for microbial methane production (methanogenesis). Imagine a pre-GOE
relatively short residence time, could be blurred in the NMD sulphur world, then, with mostly vanishingly small amounts of O2 in the ocean
record by sedimentary recycling. Based on available evidence, this critical and atmosphere; the ocean was dominated instead by high dissolved iron
transitional period took place between roughly 2.5 and 2.3 Gyr ago34–36, but concentrations and the atmosphere by high methane and ethane with
suggestions of oxygenic photosynthesis much older than 2.5 Gyr ago, residence times perhaps orders of magnitude longer than today’s. An
although not beyond dispute, are emerging37 and challenging our conven- important side issue here is that sulphate, which abounds in the ocean
tional views of the GOE. today, derives mostly from oxidation of pyrite on the continents in the
As stressed above, Earth’s O2 ultimately comes from photosynthesis. presence of O2, like the trace metals discussed earlier.
In the ocean today, as in the past, the lion’s share of that O2 is just as Methane and its photochemical products deserve our special atten-
quickly consumed through decay—or more specifically, through aerobic tion because their roles as greenhouse gases may very well have helped to
microbial respiration. For the atmosphere to receive a boost in its oxy- keep the early Earth habitable (by maintaining a liquid ocean) in the face
gen content, some of that primary production in the surface ocean must of a Sun that was only about 70% to 80% as luminous as it is today50.
escape this short-term recycling and become buried long-term beneath This, of course, is the faint young Sun paradox discussed by Sagan51 and
the sea floor. This organic-carbon burial changes the stable isotopic com- many others. It follows from our understanding of the GOE that the
position of dissolved inorganic carbon (SCO2) in the ocean because the rising O2 content of the atmosphere might have displaced methane and
organic matter has a lower ratio of 13C/12C compared to the remaining other hydrocarbons, as well as H2, as the dominant redox gas, leading
inorganic carbon in the host sea water. This fractionation occurs during to crashing temperatures and plunging the Earth into its first great
photosynthetic carbon fixation. The standard view is that the varying ‘Snowball Earth’ ice age. And the timescales of atmospheric oxygena-
carbon isotope composition of sea water, recorded often with fidelity tion, particularly when we consider the possibility of temporal blurring
in limestone and dolostone (a magnesium-rich carbonate rock), should of the GOE in light of NMD sulphur recycling, may indeed mesh with
track temporal patterns of organic-carbon burial. For example, a dramatic the geologic record of early glaciation.
increase in organic burial should manifest in a positive carbon isotope
excursion. This approach has been used widely to estimate carbon burial In the wake of the GOE
and the O2 content of the atmosphere through time38. Although the Until recently, the widely accepted timeline regarding O2 was that its
carbon isotope details of this transition are a work in progress, and emer- concentration rose in the atmosphere only modestly at the GOE and
ging data are pointing to early isotope shifts34, there is at present no waited patiently for almost two billion years before it climbed higher
evidence for a large, globally synchronous positive d13C shift in carbonate (Fig. 1). Several new studies, however, are suggesting a far more dynamic
rocks across the GOE transition (Fig. 2) as defined by the permanent loss screenplay, with the possibility of a much larger increase early on and
of NMD sulphur signals—suggesting that it is not a simple matter of a big then a deep plunge to lower levels that extended over a few hundred
increase in organic burial as the trigger. million years after the onset of the GOE (Fig. 1). These scenes play out in
As a corollary to the idea of O2 production well before the GOE, a the most prominent positive carbon isotope event in Earth’s history—
balance between carbon burial and compensatory buffering must have the Lomagundi excursion observed around the world in rocks dating
initially permitted appreciable oxygen production via photosynthesis from roughly 2.3 to 2.1 Gyr ago with d13C values extending well beyond
without permanent accumulation in the atmosphere10,11,13,18,39 (Fig. 1). 110% (ref. 52; Fig. 2).
Recent buffer models generally assume that the redox state of the mantle Despite earlier occurrences of markedly positive carbonate d13C values34,
and magmas derived from it did not change significantly leading up to the the onset of the Lomagundi excursion proper appears after widespread
GOE40–42—an idea that no doubt will be revisited in future work. From glaciation and the loss of NMD sulphur fractionations (Fig. 2). The anom-
this position, these models instead emphasize decreases in delivery of alous carbon isotope behaviour of the Lomagundi excursion is most par-
reduced gases (H2 and S species, in particular) and thus waning O2 buffer simoniously tied to intense burial of organic matter53 rather than reflecting
capacity as a function of fundamental shifts in the nature of volcanoes. diagenetic carbonate precipitation, as previously proposed54. Assuming
More to the point, a shift from dominantly submarine to increasingly the Lomagundi excursion is tied to organic burial, the carbonate d13C
subaerial volcanism as continents grew and stabilized could have led to record predicts release of roughly 10 to 20 times the present atmospheric
release of more oxidized gases10,11. If correct, the broad temporal overlap oxygen inventory52. Recent findings suggest that oxygen was indeed very
of the GOE and first-order tectonic reorganization classically assumed to high during the Lomagundi excursion, including estimates of high sulphate
mark the Archaean–Proterozoic boundary is anything but a coincidence, and trace-metal levels in the ocean53,55,56. Equally tantalizing are sugges-
and the magnitude of the NMD sulphur isotope anomaly through this tions of a precipitous drop in oxygen after the Lomagundi excursion56,57.
transition probably varied in part with tectonic controls on volcanic release The reasons for this rise and fall remain unresolved, although some models

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blame extreme weathering of crust that developed under the generally micronutrients such as Mo are readily scavenged from sea water in the
O2-lean Archaean atmosphere. This crust was rich in pyrite, which, when presence of hydrogen sulphide, might the mid-Proterozoic ocean have
oxidized, would produce acidity and enhance delivery of key nutrients— been broadly limited in these key metals, which are required enzymatically
phosphorus in particular57. Independent of the mechanism, this inferred for the fixation and utilization of nitrogen? In today’s oxic world, iron
nonlinear, reversible increase in atmospheric oxygen after the GOE stands limits primary production in vast parts of the ocean, while Mo abounds.
in stark contrast to the classic models invoking unidirectional oxygen rise The situation may have been reversed under the low-oxygen conditions of
(Fig. 1). Few data are currently available, but no strong biotic response to the mid-Proterozoic. This nutrient state would have throttled the early
these large-scale redox fluctuations has been recognized. diversity, distribution and abundances of eukaryotes—an idea explored
later through phylogenomic analysis of protein structures and the implied
Oxygen and life during Earth’s middle age histories of metal utilization in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms62.
In the late 1990s, few grasped the full rise and fall of O2 that may be Scott et al.59 found evidence for the hypothesized Mo deficiency in the
captured in the Lomagundi excursion, but in a seminal paper published mid-Proterozoic ocean (Box 2). Importantly, though, the observed Mo
in 1998, Canfield21 set the tone for the ensuing consequences by mod- drawdown and complementary Mo isotope data63 are inconsistent with
elling a persistence of low marine oxygen conditions throughout the mid- anything close to ocean-wide euxinia.
Proterozoic from roughly 1.8 to 0.8 Gyr ago—long after the GOE. He In the years following the initial excitement about mid-Proterozoic
went a step further and suggested pervasive euxinia in the deep ocean. ocean-scale euxinia, a more nuanced and realistic model for ocean–
(Euxinia refers to waters free of oxygen and rich in hydrogen sulphide, atmosphere redox emerged. Oxygen was probably persistently or tran-
H2S, like those that characterize the Black Sea today.) Whether he inten- siently very low in the atmosphere, perhaps even less than 0.1% of that
ded it or not, that view soon became one of a globally euxinic ‘Canfield’ present today (Fig. 1). For example, the apparent loss of manganese
ocean that dominated Earth’s middle age. Some years later, many (Mn) from some mid-Proterozoic soils (palaeosols) opens up the pos-
researchers, including Canfield, struggled to define a combination of sibility of markedly low atmospheric oxygen concentrations in the mid-
factors, particularly the controls on primary production that would have Proterozoic well after the GOE64. Sedimentary chromium (Cr) isotope
sustained euxinia across such large expanses of the open ocean58–60. relationships65 may, similarly, suggest limited terrestrial Mn oxidation
Nevertheless, building on the idea of ocean-scale euxinia, Anbar and for periods of the mid-Proterozoic hundreds of millions of years after the
Knoll61 presented an intriguing thought experiment: because important GOE. In modern environments, by analogy, Mn oxidation can proceed

BOX 2
Trace-element records of ocean redox evolution
Because the burial of redox-sensitive elements (RSEs) in marine sediments is greatly enhanced in anoxic settings, pervasive marine anoxia will result
in RSE depletion in sea water. Further, the magnitude of enrichment of a given RSE in a local anoxic setting should scale with its marine reservoir
size104. Large sedimentary RSE enrichments in local anoxic environments will only develop in a world with broadly oxic oceans (as on the modern
Earth), whereas pervasively anoxic conditions will lead to decreased RSE reservoir sizes and thus muted sedimentary enrichments. If the redox state of
the overlying water column can be independently constrained, then the magnitude of sedimentary RSE enrichments can be used to shed light on RSE
reservoir size and thus global redox structure. Building from modern marine element mass balances and combining elements that respond to the
presence of sulphidic conditions (Mo) with those that respond to anoxia with or without sulphide (U, Cr) it is possible to estimate the global redox
landscape (percentage of various seafloor redox states, for example, anoxic, oxic, euxinic) using RSE data from locally anoxic environments (see, for
instance, ref. 60).
Although this is a well-grounded approach, it is important to note that other factors (for example, organic fluxes, sulphide levels and bulk sediment
accumulation rates) can affect the removal rate of a given RSE. These secondary effects translate into some degree of uncertainty in quantitative
estimates; however, these should generally be minor relative to the robust first-order trends in RSE enrichment that we observe (Box 2 Figure) and the
much greater errors associated with past practices of extrapolating redox conditions at single locations to the global ocean.

100 300

80
[Mo] (p.p.m.)

200
[U] (p.p.m.)

60

40
100
20

0 0
3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0
Age (Gyr ago) Age (Gyr ago)

Box 2 Figure | Trace-metal records of evolving ocean redox conditions. Data have been filtered by independent methods to represent anoxic (left)
and euxinic (anoxic and sulphidic; right) marine environments. Blue bars represent the range for upper continental crust. Red bars denote the average
values for Archaean, early Proterozoic (left only), mid-Proterozoic and Neoproterozoic–Phanerozoic data. Data are from refs 56, 59, 60, 80. Large
Phanerozoic U and Mo enrichments point to a dominantly oxic ocean (with low enrichments being linked predominantly to anoxic events or severe
isolation). Large U enrichments in the early Proterozoic similarly suggest a well-oxygenated ocean, while persistently muted U enrichments in the mid-
Proterozoic suggest the reversion back to a poorly ventilated ocean. Modest Mo enrichments in the mid-Proterozoic, however, suggest that only a
moderate extent of this poorly oxygenated ocean was euxinic. The presence of significant Mo enrichments in the Archaean (arrow) suggests the
presence of oxidative processes at least as far back as 2.5 Gyr ago9.

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a b
1.0
Decreasing Corg flux offshore

0.8

relative to modern
Biological pump, Anoxic
0.6 deep ocean
100 μM

0.4 50 μM

[O2]
0.2 10 μM Margin Open ocean
[H2S] Archaean
0 μM
[Fe2+]
0.0
0.01 0.1 1.0
Atmospheric O2 (PAL)
c d
Decreasing Corg flux offshore Decreasing Corg flux offshore

[O2] [O2]
Early/Mid Margin Open ocean Margin Open ocean
[H2S] Early/Mid- [H2S] Late Proterozoic/
Proterozoic
[Fe2+] Proterozoic [Fe2+] Phanerozoic

Figure 3 | Ocean ventilation and evolving ocean redox structure. and right insets in each panel b–d show average profiles of O2 (blue), H2S
a, Contours of globally averaged deep ocean O2, which is largely set by a balance (green) and Fe21 (red); also shown (colour bar) is the general offshore decrease
between O2 introduced from the atmosphere and the respiration of settling in local organic carbon (Corg) fluxes and its impact on the redox profile of the
organic matter in the ocean (the ‘biological pump’). Calculations are performed water column. Double-headed arrows denote expected expansion and
as in Canfield21 and Sarmiento et al.98 but are recast in terms of atmospheric O2 contraction of sulphidic and/or ferruginous conditions (grey shading) along the
levels and carbon fluxes through the biological pump (both normalized to the productive and correspondingly reducing ocean margins. We emphasize that
modern Earth). Grey contours reflect globally averaged deep ocean O2 the Ediacaran, and much of the late Proterozoic more broadly, was most likely
concentration (in mM), with the red contour showing the boundary below to have been marked by transient oscillation between states depicted in c and
which the modelled deep ocean becomes anoxic. b–d, Summary of an emerging d. It is also important to note that small amounts of oxygen were probably
model for the evolving first-order redox structure of the ocean (see text): present, locally and perhaps transiently, in the Archaean atmosphere and
b, Archaean; c, early/mid-Proterozoic; d, late Proterozoic/Phanerozoic. Left shallow ocean (b), perhaps as local oxygen oases for the latter29.

rapidly at oxygen levels equivalent to ,1023 PAL66—which would poten- Recognizing the likelihood of a more redox stratified mid-Proterozoic
tially place mid-Proterozoic atmospheric O2 well below the commonly cited ocean was a major step forward but unfortunately the ‘proof’ resided
estimates based on traditional palaeosol work and assumptions of a per- mostly with very broad extrapolations of inferred conditions at only a
sistently anoxic deep ocean (.1 to ,40% PAL, respectively; Figs 1, few locations. The risk is not unlike surmising the global redox state of
3a)21,67. Coupled ancient Cr-Mn cycling and our ability to extrapolate the modern ocean through measurements along the highly productive
modern natural and experimental systems to quantify those ancient path- upwelling region off Peru–Chile or within the nearly isolated anoxic
ways precisely are active areas of research, as are the feedbacks necessary Black Sea. The call was out for new approaches.
to modulate atmospheric O2 at such low levels after its initial rise. In response to concerns about over-extrapolation, combined ele-
Moreover, additional records of metal cycling on land through the mental measurements and mass balance modelling is now permitting
Proterozoic will probably allow us to constrain better the timing and first-order spatial estimates for conditions across the full extent of sea
causes of increases in ocean and atmospheric oxygen contents that mark floor, including those portions long-since lost to subduction, while also
the shift to a very different late Proterozoic world. providing a more direct measure of the elemental abundances in sea
Newer data emphasizing detailed iron speciation within shales sug- water60. For example, Cr and Mo, because of their differing sensitivities
gested that the deep ocean remained dominantly anoxic68, as Canfield21 to H2S-free conditions, constrain ocean anoxia to at least 30–40% of
predicted, in response to the still low oxygen values in the atmosphere. the sea floor, and very possibly much more, for large intervals of the
But unlike the classic ‘Canfield’ euxinic ocean, the limited data are best mid-Proterozoic, with the likelihood of elevated levels of dissolved iron
explained by mostly iron-rich anoxic conditions with euxinia largely (Box 2). Those portions of the deep ocean that were not fully anoxic
limited to biologically productive ocean margins and restricted marginal may well have contained only trace levels of oxygen, a condition often
basins59,69–72. Today, organic productivity is highest in zones of nutrient referred to as ‘suboxic’69,74. Euxinic waters, defined by the presence of
upwelling along continental margins, and we can imagine the same situ- H2S, were potentially common enough to pull the concentrations of
ation in the early ocean—much like oxygen-minimum zones in the mod- some key bioessential metals below those favoured by prokaryotes
ern world (Fig. 3b–d). Decay of that settling organic matter removes and eukaryotes60,75, even if limited to only ,1–10% of the sea floor60
oxygen from the deeper waters, and the generally low O2 conditions of (relative to =1% today). Specifically, there may have been persistent
the mid-Proterozoic would have exacerbated those deficiencies (Fig. 3a). molybdenum-nitrogen co-limitation linked to euxinia through much of
Persistent and pervasive low-oxygen conditions in the ocean and atmo- the mid-Proterozoic, and those molybdenum deficiencies ultimately may
sphere might also have been favoured by copious anoxygenic photosyn- have played a major role in limiting the extent of euxinia58. Although
thesis linked to microbial iron and/or H2S oxidation in the shallow ocean73. considered to be less efficient, enzymatic pathways other than Mo-based

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nitrogen fixation must also be considered in future studies. Furthermore, helped to initiate late-Proterozoic global environmental change by alter-
we cannot exclude the possibility of a very different phosphorus cycle at ing basic aspects of the marine carbon cycle.
that time and lower-than-modern average phosphorus concentrations. Little is known about the specific relationship between early animals
Overall, a comprehensive network of nutrient-based feedbacks may have and oxygen. The earliest animals were sponges or sponge-grade88–90, and
sustained oxygen at low levels with commensurate effects on marine life, their small sizes and high rates of internal ventilation suggest that they
including severe limits on eukaryote diversity and abundance. At the may have had relatively low oxygen demand. If one is inclined to link the
heart of these feedbacks were coupled rising and falling organic produc- rise of animals to a rise of oxygen, a logical corollary is that atmospheric
tion, H2S generation and metal availability within a relatively narrow oxygen during the preceding mid-Proterozoic must have been at least
range—as expressed in the famously ‘boring’ mid-Proterozoic d13C data, transiently very low to explain the apparent lack of animals—maybe
which are marked by exceptional consistency through time (Fig. 2). (much) less than 1% of today’s level (Fig. 1). Butterfield91 suggested instead
Importantly, both modelled and measured evidence are lining up in that the generally concurrent rise of animals and oxygen was mostly a
favour of dominantly ferruginous, or iron-rich, conditions in the deep coincidence or, alternatively, that animal evolution itself triggered the
ocean through the Proterozoic60,70,71, much like the earlier Archaean. An oxygenation event. By this argument, the long delay in animal emergence
important implication is that the temporal distribution of economic- reflects instead the intrinsic timescales of evolution and the complexity of
grade iron formations must reflect something other than just the redox gene expression and cell signalling in animals, consistent with the appar-
state of the deep ocean—probably episodes of heightened plume activity ent lack of animals during the much earlier O2-rich Lomagundi excursion.
within the mantle76 and/or periods with higher iron concentrations in Others researchers assert various scenarios that demand oxygen in appre-
the hydrothermal fluids released on the sea floor77. Only near the end of ciable amounts88 to explain high animal diversity, large mobile bilaterians,
the Proterozoic did oxygen take a big step up again, perhaps in response the advent of biomineralization (skeletons), wide niche expansion includ-
to first-order shifts in global-scale tectonics and glaciations in combina- ing habitats below the sea floor, and complex predator–prey relation-
tion with biological innovations. ships92. At the same time, we know that animals will alter ecosystem
structure and profoundly influence the carbon cycle88,93, and thus local
Another step towards the modern world and broader oxygen levels, by burrowing into sediments, for example. In
Despite a new wave of excellent work, much remains unknown about every case, environment and co-evolving life participate in myriad feed-
the redox structure of the ocean and atmosphere during the later part of back loops, wherein changes to one generally affect the other. Thus, we
the Proterozoic (formally known as the Neoproterozoic) between roughly warn against end-member arguments in this debate.
0.8 and 0.55 Gyr ago and its relationship with evolving life. This gap is a
bit surprising given its relatively young age, the comparatively good The way forward
quality and quantity of available rocks to study, and the abundant recent Informed by increasing sophistication in elemental and isotopic proxy
work on this interval. Yet, the common interpretations tread close to a approaches, we can now say with much greater confidence when and
worrisome circularity: the emergence of animals is typically attributed to why the redox structure of the ocean and atmosphere varied through
a second big O2 step long after the GOE (a so-called Neoproterozoic time. Through this window, we can view an ocean and atmosphere that
Oxidation Event78), but animals are just as often cited as evidence for were mostly oxygen-starved for almost 90% of Earth’s history.
the oxygenation. Other signs of Neoproterozoic oxygenation lie with evid- So what are the next great opportunities in studies of early oxygen? Of
ence for deep marine O2 (refs 79, 80) and problematic explanations for particular value are proxies for seawater composition and linked numer-
Earth’s greatest negative carbon isotope excursion (Fig. 2)—the so-called ical models that make it possible to extrapolate beyond local conditions
Shuram-Wonaka anomaly81,82, which is interpreted to be of either prim- and allow, perhaps for the first time, access to the chemical landscape of
ary or secondary origin83 (reviewed in ref. 82). Other data point instead, the ocean as a whole. We recall that the goal is to characterize conditions
in seeming contradiction, to a persistence of expansive anoxic (iron-rich, on a sea floor that is mostly lost through subduction, and the records that
that is, ferruginous, and euxinic) marine waters84. we do have from the ancient ocean margin are intrinsically vulnerable to
Amidst the apparent confusion, new research is steering us towards local controls, such as basin restriction and elevated local levels of prim-
consistent threads that run through all these data by invoking anoxic ary production. We also need additional quantitative tracers of oxygen
conditions on productive late Neoproterozoic ocean margins and oxy- levels in the atmosphere, given how hard it is to quantify its composition
genation, at least episodically, in the deeper waters (Fig. 3c, d). Indeed, with confidence using mostly oxygen levels inferred for the ocean. And
some of the available trace-metal data point to very low extents of euxinic despite significant steps forward, too little is known about the precise
and ferruginous waters at times during the latest Neoproterozoic—also timing of the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis. In this search,
known as the Ediacaran (,635–542 Myr ago)—potentially in phase with organic and inorganic geochemical methods must be used with full
major shifts in eukaryotic/animal innovation (reviewed in ref. 85; Box 2). awareness of all possibilities of overprinting and contamination. As
However, we also expect large-scale temporal variability in marine redox always, novel approaches applied to more and better samples with the
conditions, and climate/glaciation may have been a driver of biogeo- strongest possible age and sedimentological controls will continue to
chemical destabilization and a key factor behind the escape from the drive the research, with the latter providing independent constraints on
oxygen-lean stasis that characterized the mid-Proterozoic86,87. For instance, depositional conditions that complement geochemical analysis.
one can imagine that shifts in nutrient cycles at the end of the Marinoan The Proterozoic is book-ended by the two greatest geobiological events
‘Snowball Earth’ glaciation, the second of two major ice ages in the in Earth’s history—the GOE and the dramatic changes among life and
Neoproterozoic, may have triggered the organic productivity/burial that environment in the late Neoproterozoic—and these will continue to grab
then spawned the rise in oxygen in the early Ediacaran80, and trace-metal much of the attention. Armed with a better grasp of the history of oxy-
enrichments suggest a widely oxygenated ocean at about 630 and 550 Myr genic photosynthesis and the full range of evolving oxygen-consuming
ago59,80. The detailed timing and persistence of O2 accumulation in the reactions as tied to processes both on and deep within the Earth, we will
Neoproterozoic ocean and the transition into the younger Phanerozoic are correctly tackle the first rise of atmospheric oxygen as the complicated,
not well known and allow for rising and falling oxygen concentrations during protracted, dynamic process that it must have been. Refined views of the
the Ediacaran, as well as the possibility of earlier, even pre-Snowball history of continent formation will inform these discussions.
Earth, oxygenation that may have helped trigger the climate events that The billion or more years of history beyond the initial oxygenation of the
followed. It is also likely that shifts in global tectonics during the atmosphere will remain a prime target, particularly given recent suggestions
Neoproterozoic played a strong role in initiating late-Proterozoic global of a remarkable persistence of mostly very low oxygen levels, perhaps more
environmental change. Continuous diversification of algae (eukaryotic akin to the Archaean than the modern world, and their strangle-hold on
primary producers) throughout the Neoproterozoic may also have early complex life. Full resolution of the feedbacks involved will be a great

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 RESEARCH REVIEW

leap forward. Finally, researchers will ask more and better questions about Model exploring the consequences of atmospheric hydrogen escape for the
redox budget of the evolving Earth; it has become a crucial lynchpin in the
the unique confluence of global-scale climatic, evolutionary and tectonic examination of Earth’s oxygenation within a planetary context.
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Author Contributions C.T.R. and N.J.P. designed the model for O2-producing
73. Johnston, D. T., Wolfe-Simon, F., Pearson, A. & Knoll, A. H. Anoxygenic
photosynthesis and its relationship to Archaean organic carbon presented in Box 1.
photosynthesis modulated Proterozoic oxygen and sustained Earth’s middle
C.T.R. and N.J.P. compiled the database, and C.T.R. performed the modelling
age. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 16925–16929 (2009).
presented in Box 1. T.W.L. wrote the manuscript with major contributions from C.T.R.
74. Slack, J. F., Grenne, T., Bekker, A., Rouxel, O. J. & Lindberg, P. A. Suboxic deep and N.J.P.
seawater in the late Paleoproterozoic: evidence from hematitic chert and iron
formation related to seafloor-hydrothermal sulfide deposits, central Arizona, Author Information Reprints and permissions information is available at
USA. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 255, 243–256 (2007). www.nature.com/reprints. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
75. Glass, J. B., Wolfe-Simon, F. & Anbar, A. D. Coevolution of metal availability and Readers are welcome to comment on the online version of the paper. Correspondence
nitrogen assimilation in cyanobacteria and algae. Geobiology 7, 100–123 (2009). should be addressed to T.W.L. ([email protected]).

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