Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Preparation of Authigenic Pyrite from Methane-bearing Sediments for In Situ Sulfur Isotope Analysis Using SIMS
Published on: August 31, 2017
Anomalous fractionation of mercury isotopes in the Late Archean atmosphere
Aubrey L Zerkle1, Runsheng Yin2, Chaoyue Chen3
1School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, Scotland, UK. az29@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Earth's surface underwent a dramatic transition ~2.3 billion years ago when atmospheric oxygen first accumulated during the Great Oxidation Event, but the detailed composition of the reducing early atmosphere is not well known. Here we develop mercury (Hg) stable isotopes as a proxy for paleoatmospheric chemistry and use Hg isotope data from 2.5 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks to examine changes in the Late Archean atmosphere immediately prior to the Great Oxidation Event. These sediments preserve evidence of strong photochemical transformations of mercury in the absence of molecular oxygen. In addition, these geochemical records combined with previously published multi-proxy data support a vital role for methane in Earth's early atmosphere.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Conditions on Early Earth
Mass Spectrometry: Alkyl Halide Fragmentation
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect
Mass Spectrometry: Long-Chain Alkane Fragmentation
Mass Spectrometry: Branched Alkane Fragmentation
Mass Spectrometry of Amines

