The Archean atmosphere

2020/02/27 by David C. Catling, Kevin Zahnle · 24 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax1420

openalex publication_date 2020/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

times modern amounts, respectively. The greenhouse gas concentrations were sufficient to offset a fainter Sun. Climate moderation by the carbon cycle suggests average surface temperatures between 0° and 40°C, consistent with occasional glaciations. Isotopic mass fractionation of atmospheric xenon through the Archean until atmospheric oxygenation is best explained by drag of xenon ions by hydrogen escaping rapidly into space. These data imply that substantial loss of hydrogen oxidized the Earth. Despite these advances, detailed understanding of the coevolving solid Earth, biosphere, and atmosphere remains elusive, however.

Citations

• Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils
• Geological nitrogen cycle and atmospheric N2 over Phanerozoic time
• Air density 2.7 billion years ago limited to less than twice modern levels by fossil raindrop imprints
• Nitrogen-enhanced greenhouse warming on early Earth
• COPSE: A new model of biogeochemical cycling over Phanerozoic time
• Nitrogen Isotopic Composition and Density of the Archean Atmosphere
• The Redox State of Earth's Mantle
• Earth's air pressure 2.7 billion years ago constrained to less than half of modern levels
• Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology
• EarthN: A New Earth System Nitrogen Model
• Eolianite Grain Size Distributions as a Proxy for Large Changes in Planetary Atmospheric Density
• The geologic history of seawater oxygen isotopes from marine iron oxides

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Related

• The Case for a Hot Archean Climate and its Implications to the History of the Biosphere
• Creation and Evolution of Impact-generated Reduced Atmospheres of Early Earth
• Nitrogen Isotopic Composition and Density of the Archean Atmosphere
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• Evolution of the Archean Atmosphere