Rock samples suggest oxygen levels during 'Lomagundi Event' were high enough to support life development progress
January 17, 2017 by Bob Yirka report
Credit: NASA
(Phys.org)—A small team of researchers in the U.S. has found evidence in rock samples that suggests that oxygen levels during the Lomagundi Event were high enough to support the advancement of life on Earth. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they analyzed rocks that had formed during the event period and in so doing found evidence of higher than expected oxygen levels.
Scientists believe that life first emerged on planet Earth almost 4 billion years ago—but it took almost another 3 billion years for eukaryotes (a cell-based organism with genetic material) to come about. But there is also evidence that the Earth experienced a time when oxygen levels rose, called the Lomagundi Event—it occurred approximately 2.3 to 2.1 billion years ago. Scientists would like to know whether the degree of oxygen enrichment during that time period was enough to support higher life form development, and if so, why eukaryotes didn't arise during that time instead of a billion years later.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-samples-oxygen-lomagundi-event-high.html#jCp
January 17, 2017 by Bob Yirka report
Credit: NASA
(Phys.org)—A small team of researchers in the U.S. has found evidence in rock samples that suggests that oxygen levels during the Lomagundi Event were high enough to support the advancement of life on Earth. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they analyzed rocks that had formed during the event period and in so doing found evidence of higher than expected oxygen levels.
Scientists believe that life first emerged on planet Earth almost 4 billion years ago—but it took almost another 3 billion years for eukaryotes (a cell-based organism with genetic material) to come about. But there is also evidence that the Earth experienced a time when oxygen levels rose, called the Lomagundi Event—it occurred approximately 2.3 to 2.1 billion years ago. Scientists would like to know whether the degree of oxygen enrichment during that time period was enough to support higher life form development, and if so, why eukaryotes didn't arise during that time instead of a billion years later.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-samples-oxygen-lomagundi-event-high.html#jCp