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Algae Terraformed Earth 650 Million Years Ago

posted by mrpg on Friday August 18 2017, @01:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the my-dna-test-says-im-5%-algae dept.

takyon writes:

A study of molecules in the fossil record has pinpointed the rise of algae on Earth:

A planetary takeover by ocean-dwelling algae 650 million years ago was the kick that transformed life on Earth. That's what geochemists argue in Nature this week [DOI: 10.1038/nature23457] [DX], on the basis of invisibly small traces of biomolecules dug up from beneath the Australian desert.

The molecules mark an explosion in the quantity of algae in the oceans. This in turn fuelled a change in the food web that allowed the first microscopic animals to evolve, the authors suggest. "This is one the most profound ecological and evolutionary transitions in Earth's history," lead researcher Jochen Brocks told the BBC's Science in Action programme.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @03:45PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @03:45PM (#555934)

    This is not new. It is stage 2 in the Great Oxidation Event.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event [wikipedia.org]

    What is not mentioned: the seas were opaque/green due
    to dissolved iron. As O2 rose, it oxidized & precipitated to
    the bottom, & the seas cleared. Meanwhile, UV went down
    due to formation of an ozome layer.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @04:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 18 2017, @04:50PM (#555967)

    Pretty sure this is a different thing, the O2 catastrophe happened 2.5–2.4 billion years ago according to wikipedia.

    This event is much more recent.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday August 19 2017, @12:07AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 19 2017, @12:07AM (#556200) Journal
    Actually, this would correspond to a bit before the start of "stage 5" by time. [royalsocietypublishing.org]

    Stage 4 (0.85–0.54 Ga) saw a rise in atmospheric oxygen to values not much less than 0.2 atm. The shallow oceans followed suit, but the deep oceans were anoxic, at least during the intense Neoproterozoic ice ages. Atmospheric oxygen levels during stage 5 (0.54 Ga–present) probably rose to a maximum value of ca 0.3 atm during the Carboniferous before returning to its present value. The shallow oceans were oxygenated, while the oxygenation of the deep oceans fluctuated considerably, perhaps on rather geologically short time-scales.