Biological regulation of atmospheric chemistry en route to planetary oxygenation
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- Gareth Izon
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, Scotland;
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- Aubrey L. Zerkle
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, Scotland;
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- Kenneth H. Williford
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109;
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- James Farquhar
- Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742;
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- Simon W. Poulton
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom;
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- Mark W. Claire
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, Scotland;
書誌事項
- 公開日
- 2017-03-13
- 権利情報
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- http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/userlicense.xhtml
- DOI
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- 10.1073/pnas.1618798114
- 公開者
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
この論文をさがす
説明
<jats:title>Significance</jats:title><jats:p>It has been proposed that enhanced methane fluxes to Earth’s early atmosphere could have altered atmospheric chemistry, initiating a hydrocarbon-rich haze reminiscent of Saturn’s moon Titan. The occurrence, cause, and significance of haze development, however, remain unknown. Here, we test and refine the “haze hypothesis” by combining an ultra-high-resolution sulfur- and carbon-isotope dataset with photochemical simulations to reveal the structure and timing of haze development. These data suggest that haze persisted for ∼1 million years, requiring a sustained biological driver. We propose that enhanced atmospheric CH<jats:sub>4</jats:sub>, implied by the presence of haze, could have had a significant impact on the escape of hydrogen from the atmosphere, effectively contributing to the terminal oxidation of Earth’s surficial environments ∼2.4 billion years ago.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114 (13), E2571-, 2017-03-13
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
