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Oceanic nickel depletion and a methanogen famine before the Great Oxidation Event

Author

Listed:
  • Kurt O. Konhauser

    (University of Alberta)

  • Ernesto Pecoits

    (University of Alberta)

  • Stefan V. Lalonde

    (University of Alberta)

  • Dominic Papineau

    (Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington DC 20015, USA)

  • Euan G. Nisbet

    (Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK)

  • Mark E. Barley

    (School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia)

  • Nicholas T. Arndt

    (Laboratoire de Géodynamique des Chaîne Alpines, Maison de Géosciences, Université Joseph Fourier, 1381 rue de la piscine, Grenoble 38041, France)

  • Kevin Zahnle

    (NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA)

  • Balz S. Kamber

    (Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada)

Abstract

Whys after the Event The Great Oxidation Event (GOE), an era on Earth about 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere, is widely thought to have been triggered by a decrease in atmospheric methane levels. What could have caused methane to start to disappear has remained uncertain. Now based on the discovery of a decline in the molar nickel to iron ratio in banded iron formations, sedimentary rocks laid down about 2.7 billion years ago, Konhauser et al. offer a new hypothesis to explain the loss of methane. They attribute the scarcity of nickel to a reduced flux of nickel to the oceans due to a fall in upper mantle temperatures and a decreased eruption of nickel-rich ultramafic rocks at that time. Nickel is a key cofactor in several enzymes found in methanogens, so its decline may have stifled the activity of methane producing organisms in the ancient oceans and disrupted the supply of biogenic methane.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt O. Konhauser & Ernesto Pecoits & Stefan V. Lalonde & Dominic Papineau & Euan G. Nisbet & Mark E. Barley & Nicholas T. Arndt & Kevin Zahnle & Balz S. Kamber, 2009. "Oceanic nickel depletion and a methanogen famine before the Great Oxidation Event," Nature, Nature, vol. 458(7239), pages 750-753, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:458:y:2009:i:7239:d:10.1038_nature07858
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07858
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    Cited by:

    1. Bo Huang & Tim E. Johnson & Simon A. Wilde & Ali Polat & Dong Fu & Timothy Kusky, 2022. "Coexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Guoxiong Chen & Qiuming Cheng & Timothy W. Lyons & Jun Shen & Frits Agterberg & Ning Huang & Molei Zhao, 2022. "Reconstructing Earth’s atmospheric oxygenation history using machine learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Matthijs A. Smit & Kira A. Musiyachenko & Jeroen Goumans, 2024. "Archaean continental crust formed from mafic cumulates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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