CNRS
Till now, it has been assumed that the oxygenation of the oceans over geological timescales has primarily been pushed by atmospheric oxygen ranges. Nevertheless, a brand new examine revealed in Nature on June 27 2022 suggests in any other case. Work by scientists on the Biogeosciences Laboratory (CNRS/UBFC), along with their colleagues on the College of California’s Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, reveals that the motion of tectonic plates has in all probability contributed to ocean oxygenation. To reveal this, the scientists used a three-dimensional local weather mannequin to recreate circumstances on Earth from 540 million years in the past to the current day, specifically taking into consideration ocean circulation currents. Of their mannequin, the scientists modified the place of the continents whereas holding the atmospheric oxygen focus fixed. The end result was that the oxygen focus within the oceans elevated, regardless of a continuing degree of oxygen within the ambiance. The brand new paper thus reveals for the primary time that atmospheric and oceanic oxygen ranges are largely unbiased of one another. Since oxygen is significant to marine life, these findings reveal the hitherto underestimated function performed by plate tectonics within the evolution of biodiversity within the oceans over geological time scales.
JOURNAL
Nature
DOI
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Computational simulation/modeling
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not relevant
ARTICLE TITLE
Continental configuration controls ocean oxygenation through the Phanerozoic
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
17-Aug-2022
