Andrew Yee
November 1st 04, 07:43 PM
News Bureau
University of Missouri-Columbia
Contact:
Cheri Ghan, Sr. Information Specialist
(573) 882-6217,
October 14, 2004
Tracking Ancient Earth's Oxygen Levels Provides Backdrop for Evolution
MU Professor Helps Discover Method to Estimate Sulfate, Oxygen Levels in Ancient
Oceans
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Geologists have long considered sulfate, a common salt
dissolved in seawater, as the key to determining how and when life evolved. On
the ancient Earth, acquiring enough ocean sulfate measurements to accurately
define the ecological conditions during evolution has been a serious challenge.
Now, a novel method for extracting sulfate from ancient rocks has enabled a
research team including University of Missouri-Columbia geological science
professor Tim Lyons to uncover new evidence for sulfate levels in prehistoric
oceans.
Lyons and his collaborators, whose findings are published in the current issue
of the scientific journal Nature, say their results are important because the
amount of sulfate in seawater tracks the amount of oxygen present at that same
time. Scientists want to know when and how fast oxygen accumulated in the
prehistoric oceans and atmosphere because many forms of life on Earth,
particularly multicellular organisms, could not flourish without it.
In their report, Lyons and his colleagues say they were able to confirm a prior
suspicion that the rise in ocean sulfate levels, and therefore the oxygenation
of the atmosphere, was a protracted process that extended 1 billion to 2 billion
years after the first accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere 2.3 billion years
ago. The new estimates suggest that during the time period from roughly 2.3
billion to 1.2 billion years ago, the amount of sulfate grew from less than 1
percent to no more than 15 percent of today's value.
"If the increase in oceanic sulfate and atmospheric oxygen indeed extended over
more than a billion years, that undoubtedly affected how and when many forms of
life evolved," Lyons said.
The researchers conducted their research by analyzing 1.7 billion-year-old and
1.2 billion-year-old ocean sediments. Some of the measurements came from gypsum,
a sulfate-containing mineral, from the arctic region of Canada. They also
extracted sulfate from ancient limestone, which is more abundant than gypsum,
using a method they helped pioneer.
To estimate levels of sulfate in ancient seawater, the team first measured the
ratio of sulfur isotopes within the sulfate. Isotopes are atoms of the same
element with different numbers of neutrons in their nucleus. In recent times,
the isotopic composition of sulfate has varied little, which is consistent with
the high concentrations of sulfate in modern seawater.
"We saw something really different," Lyons said. "We saw very rapid isotopic
variability, which suggests there wasn't much sulfate in the early ocean and
that oxygen in the atmosphere remained comparatively low for more than 80
percent of Earth's history."
Joining Lyons in the research were Linda Kah from the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville and Tracy Frank of the University of Nebraska.
University of Missouri-Columbia
Contact:
Cheri Ghan, Sr. Information Specialist
(573) 882-6217,
October 14, 2004
Tracking Ancient Earth's Oxygen Levels Provides Backdrop for Evolution
MU Professor Helps Discover Method to Estimate Sulfate, Oxygen Levels in Ancient
Oceans
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Geologists have long considered sulfate, a common salt
dissolved in seawater, as the key to determining how and when life evolved. On
the ancient Earth, acquiring enough ocean sulfate measurements to accurately
define the ecological conditions during evolution has been a serious challenge.
Now, a novel method for extracting sulfate from ancient rocks has enabled a
research team including University of Missouri-Columbia geological science
professor Tim Lyons to uncover new evidence for sulfate levels in prehistoric
oceans.
Lyons and his collaborators, whose findings are published in the current issue
of the scientific journal Nature, say their results are important because the
amount of sulfate in seawater tracks the amount of oxygen present at that same
time. Scientists want to know when and how fast oxygen accumulated in the
prehistoric oceans and atmosphere because many forms of life on Earth,
particularly multicellular organisms, could not flourish without it.
In their report, Lyons and his colleagues say they were able to confirm a prior
suspicion that the rise in ocean sulfate levels, and therefore the oxygenation
of the atmosphere, was a protracted process that extended 1 billion to 2 billion
years after the first accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere 2.3 billion years
ago. The new estimates suggest that during the time period from roughly 2.3
billion to 1.2 billion years ago, the amount of sulfate grew from less than 1
percent to no more than 15 percent of today's value.
"If the increase in oceanic sulfate and atmospheric oxygen indeed extended over
more than a billion years, that undoubtedly affected how and when many forms of
life evolved," Lyons said.
The researchers conducted their research by analyzing 1.7 billion-year-old and
1.2 billion-year-old ocean sediments. Some of the measurements came from gypsum,
a sulfate-containing mineral, from the arctic region of Canada. They also
extracted sulfate from ancient limestone, which is more abundant than gypsum,
using a method they helped pioneer.
To estimate levels of sulfate in ancient seawater, the team first measured the
ratio of sulfur isotopes within the sulfate. Isotopes are atoms of the same
element with different numbers of neutrons in their nucleus. In recent times,
the isotopic composition of sulfate has varied little, which is consistent with
the high concentrations of sulfate in modern seawater.
"We saw something really different," Lyons said. "We saw very rapid isotopic
variability, which suggests there wasn't much sulfate in the early ocean and
that oxygen in the atmosphere remained comparatively low for more than 80
percent of Earth's history."
Joining Lyons in the research were Linda Kah from the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville and Tracy Frank of the University of Nebraska.