The geologic history of seawater pH

2017/03/10 by Itay Halevy, Aviv Bachan · 1 voice · 5 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Isotope Analysis in Ecology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.aal4151

openalex publication_date 2017/03/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

The long view of ocean pH The acid-base balance of the oceans has been critical in maintaining Earth's habitability and allowing the emergence of early life. Despite this importance, systematic estimates of historical seawater pH are lacking. Halevy and Bachan developed a model of seawater chemistry and pH over time scales exceeding ∼100 million years. Their highly robust probabilistic history of seawater pH and chemistry reflects evolving properties of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and crust. Seawater pH increased from early Archean values of ∼6.5 to 7.0 to more recent values of ∼7.5 to 9.0 mostly as a result of solar brightening and decreasing interaction between seawater and oceanic crust. Science , this issue p. 1069

Citations

• Warming the early Earth - CO2 reconsidered
• A negative feedback mechanism for the long‐term stabilization of Earth's surface temperature
• Mid-Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Fluxes and the Chemical Composition of the Ocean

Cited by

• The fats of the matter: Lipids in prebiotic chemistry and in origin of life studies
• Frontiers in Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments
• Prebiotic Peptides: Molecular Hubs in the Origin of Life
• Thresholds of temperature change for mass extinctions
• Polyesters as a Model System for Building Primitive Biologies from Non-Biological Prebiotic Chemistry

Discussions

• A question: Does anyone know of an # OpenAccess version of this article on the historic pH values of the oceans? Or alternatively, do you know of another article that highlights these changes througho [mastodon, 0 points, 2 comments]