To such conclusions the international group of geophysicists came to the study of ancient rocks from South Africa.
A group of scientists from China, USA and South Africa have changed the timing on Earth oxygen catastrophe per 10 million years.
Detailed results of the study published in the journal Science Advances.
According to geophysicists, about 2,33 billion years ago, in the gas shell of a planet, the concentration of molecular oxygen increased rapidly. Previously, scientists assumed that it could happen later – 2,316 billion years ago.
Appropriate conclusions were made after studying ancient rocks in South Africa. In the course of works, the researchers measured the anomalous concentrations of compounds of sulfur isotopes, which were generated by photochemical reactions. Her party was sulfur dioxide.
Note that the reaction can normally take place only PI accounting for the lack of oxygen. The disappearance of the compounds in the samples suggests that Earth’s atmosphere became enriched with oxygen. Therefore, the implementation of the reaction it was impossible.
The scientific work of the group will allow scientists to pinpoint a more exact time of the oxygen enrichment of air on a planetary shell. The appearance of the corresponding gas was a precise reference to the emergence of life forms.
