Noah J Planavsky, Peter McGoldrick, Clinton T Scott, Chao Li, Christopher T Reinhard, Amy E Kelly, Xuelei Chu, Andrey Bekker, Gordon D Love, Timothy W Lyons

2011/9/22

Nature

477

7365

448

Nature Publishing Group

Abstract The chemical composition of the ocean changed markedly with the oxidation of the
Earth's surface, and this process has profoundly influenced the evolutionary and ecological
history of life. The early Earth was characterized by a reducing ocean-atmosphere system,
whereas the Phanerozoic eon (less than 542 million years ago) is known for a stable and
oxygenated biosphere conducive to the radiation of animals. The redox characteristics of
surface environments during Earth's middle age (1.8-1 billion years ago) are less well ...