Searching for Primary Evidence of Early Earth’s Atmospheric Evolution

Abstract

What did Earth look like between one billion and two-and-a-half billion years ago? When did our atmosphere and oceans become oxygen-rich? Did oxygenation occur rapidly or during slow oscillations over hundreds of millions of years? These questions have been debated by scientists for decades because of their implications for the evolution of early life, and thus, our very understanding of life on Earth. Through their research, Dr Robert H. Rainbird and his team at the Geological Survey of Canada and Carleton University seek to answer these questions by investigating the ancient sedimentary rocks to the north of Lake Huron in Ontario.