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Related Experiment Videos

Was the Archaean biosphere upside down?

J C Walker1

  • 1Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.

Nature
|October 22, 1987
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Photosynthesis creates organic carbon and oxidants. Differential transport of these products, like oxygen and iron, shaped Earth's ancient biosphere, making it oxidizing at the bottom and reducing at the top.

Area of Science:

  • Biogeochemistry
  • Geology
  • Paleoclimatology

Background:

  • Photosynthesis produces equivalent amounts of reduced organic carbon and an oxidized partner.
  • These products can react, but environmental transport processes often separate them, leading to distinct redox zones.
  • Understanding these redox dynamics is crucial for interpreting Earth's early biogeochemical cycles.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the differential transport of photosynthetic products in the anoxic Archean biosphere.
  • To contrast the redox stratification of the Archean biosphere with that of the modern biosphere.
  • To propose a model for the distribution of oxidants and reductants in Earth's early history.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual modeling based on chemical properties and transport processes.
Keywords:
NASA Discipline ExobiologyNASA Discipline Number 52-30NASA Program ExobiologyNon-NASA Center

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparison of modern and Archean biogeochemical conditions.
  • Analysis of the solubility and mobility of key compounds like oxygen, iron, and organic carbon.

    • Main Results:

    • In the modern biosphere, oxygen accumulates in the atmosphere while organic matter settles.
    • On the anoxic Archean Earth, oxidized iron, being less soluble, likely settled faster than organic carbon.
    • This differential transport would have led to an oxidizing 'bottom' (sediments) and a reducing 'top' (ocean/atmosphere).

    Conclusions:

    • The redox structure of the biosphere is significantly influenced by the chemical properties of photosynthetic products.
    • The Archean biosphere likely exhibited an inverse redox stratification compared to the modern biosphere.
    • This suggests a fundamentally different biogeochemical environment in Earth's early history.