Timeline of the development of free oxygen in the Earth's seas and atmosphere
O2 build-up in the Earth's atmosphere. Red and green lines represent the range of the estimates while time is measured in billions of years ago (Ga). Stage 1 (3.85–2.45 Ga): Practically no O2 in the atmosphere. Stage 2 (2.45–1.85 Ga): O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans and seabed rock. Stage 3 (1.85–0.85 Ga): O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer. Stages 4 and 5 (0.85 Ga–present): O2 sinks filled, the gas accumulates.[1]
Before photosynthesis evolved, Earth's atmosphere had no free oxygen (O2).[2] Small quantities of oxygen were released by geological[3] and biological processes, but did not build up in the atmosphere due to reactions with reducing minerals.
Oxygen began building up in the atmosphere at approximately 1.85 Ga. At current rates of primary production, today's concentration of oxygen could be produced by photosynthetic organisms in 2,000 years.[4] In the absence of plants, the rate of oxygen production by photosynthesis was slower in the Precambrian, and the concentrations of O2 attained were less than 10% of today's and probably fluctuated greatly.
The increase in oxygen concentrations had wide ranging and significant impacts on life. Most significantly, the rise of oxygen caused a mass extinction of anaerobic microbes and paved the way for multicellular life.
^Holland, H. D. (2006). "The oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 361 (1470): 903–915. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1838. PMC 1578726. PMID 16754606.
^Zimmer, Carl (3 October 2013). "Earth's Oxygen: A Mystery Easy to Take for Granted". New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
^Stone, Jordan; Edgar, John O.; Gould, Jamie A.; Telling, Jon (2022-08-08). "Tectonically-driven oxidant production in the hot biosphere". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 4529. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32129-y. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 9360021. PMID 35941147.
^Dole, M. (1965). "The Natural History of Oxygen". The Journal of General Physiology. 49 (1): Suppl:Supp5–27. doi:10.1085/jgp.49.1.5. PMC 2195461. PMID 5859927.
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