Abstract:

Over the last 20 years, huge progress has been made in terms of our understanding of Earth’s oxygenation history. This lecture will start with a general overview and timeline of the advances made, culminating in the most up-to-date reconstruction of atmospheric and oceanic oxygenation. Recent research will then be presented on the role that phosphorus cycling played in priming the Earth for its first major rise in atmospheric oxygen during the Great Oxidation Episode (GOE). Research pertaining to the dynamics of the GOE and links to phosphorus cycling will then be discussed. This work documents a major delay of ~100 million years in the timing of persistent atmospheric oxygenation, with intense fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen levels being linked to major climate perturbations. Finally, we will review how far our understanding of the history of mid-Proterozoic ocean chemistry has evolved over the last 20 years, with an ultimate focus on potential drivers of apparent temporal and spatial variability in this record.

Speaker: Dr. Simon Poulton (University of Leeds)

Host: Yasuhito Sekine, ELSI.

Date: Wed. 3 Jul. 16:00-17:00 JST

Venue: Mishima Hall, ELSI (hybrid)