Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology => Topic started by: AndroidNeox on 12/05/2013 16:08:13

Title: When was the Great Oxidation Event?
Post by: AndroidNeox on 12/05/2013 16:08:13

When I search the web, I find answers varying from maybe 3 billion years ago to 2 billion years. I find on this site that it's no more than 1.2 billion years ago (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/news/news/2101/ (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/news/news/2101/)). Is there a general consensus in the field?

Title: Re: When was the Great Oxidation Event?
Post by: JimBob on 12/05/2013 16:55:31

Two measured cores seem to agree on the 2.5-2.3+-0.1 Billion years ago date. One from Australia, one from Canada-US border region

Title: Re: When was the Great Oxidation Event?
Post by: AndroidNeox on 12/05/2013 19:08:50

Thanks, JimBob. That's about what I had thought, but I was puzzled by this statement on Naked Scientists, "analysis of ancient rocks called the Stoer Group in the far north of Scotland has provided strong evidence for an even earlier rise in oxygen levels, 1.2 billion years ago or 400 million years earlier than first thought".