nature.com

The future lifespan of Earth’s oxygenated atmosphere - Nature Geoscience

  • ️Reinhard, Christopher T.
  • ️Mon Mar 01 2021

References

  1. Fujii, Y. et al. Exoplanet biosignatures: observational prospects. Astrobiology 18, 739–778 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe (National Academies, 2019).

  3. The LUVOIR Team. The LUVOIR Mission Concept Study Final Report. Available at https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/reports/ (2019).

  4. Meadows, V. S. et al. Exoplanet biosignatures: understanding oxygen as a biosignature in the context of its environment. Astrobiology 18, 630–662 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Schwieterman, E. W. et al. Exoplanet biosignatures: a review of remotely detectable signs of life. Astrobiology 18, 663–708 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Meadows, V. Reflections on O2 as a biosignature in exoplanetary atmospheres. Astrobiology 17, 1022–1052 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wordsworth, R. & Pierrehumbert, R. Abiotic oxygen-dominated atmospheres on terrestrial habitable zone planets. Astrophys. J. Lett. 785, L20 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gao, P., Hu, R., Robinson, T. D., Li, C. & Yung, Y. L. Stability of CO2 atmospheres on desiccated M dwarf exoplanets. Astrophys. J. 806, 249 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Luger, R. & Barnes, R. Extreme water loss and abiotic O2 buildup on planets throughout the habitable zones of m dwarfs. Astrobiology 15, 119–143 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Prentice, I. C. et al. in Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis (eds Houghton, J. T. et al.) 183–238 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001).

  11. Lyons, T. W., Reinhard, C. T. & Planavsky, N. J. The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere. Nature 506, 307–315 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lenton, T. M. et al. Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 9704–9709 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Krause, A. J. et al. Stepwise oxygenation of the paleozoic atmosphere. Nat. Commun. 9, 4081 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lenton, T. M. Gaia and natural selection. Nature 394, 439–447 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lenton, T. M., Crouch, M., Johnson, M., Pires, N. & Dolan, L. First plants cooled the Ordovician. Nat. Geosci. 5, 86–89 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Caldeira, K. & Kasting, J. F. The life span of the biosphere revisited. Nature 360, 721–723 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lovelock, J. E. & Whitfield, M. Life span of the biosphere. Nature 296, 561–563 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Franck, S., Bounama, C. & von Bloh, W. Causes and timing of future biosphere extinctions. Biogeosciences 3, 85–92 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Franck, S., Kossacki, K. J., Von Bloth, W. & Bounama, C. Long-term evolution of the global carbon cycle: historic minimum of global surface temperature at present. Tellus B 54, 325–343 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. O’Malley-James, J. T., Greaves, J. S., Raven, J. A. & Cockell, C. S. Swansong biospheres: refuges for life and novel microbial biospheres on terrestrial planets near the end of their habitable lifetimes. Int. J. Astrobiol. 12, 99–112 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Walker, J. C. G., Hays, P. B. & Kasting, J. F. A negative feedback mechanism for the long-term stabilization of Earth’s surface temperature. J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9776–9782 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kasting, J. F. Runaway and moist greenhouse atmospheres and the evolution of Earth and Venus. Icarus 74, 472–494 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Leconte, J., Forget, F., Charnay, B., Wordsworth, R. & Pottier, A. Increased insolation threshold for runaway greenhouse processes on Earth-like planets. Nature 504, 268–271 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Claire, M. W., Catling, D. C. & Zahnle, K. J. Biogeochemical modelling of the rise in atmospheric oxygen. Geobiology 4, 239–269 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Reinhard, C. T. et al. Oceanic and atmospheric methane cycling in the cGENIE Earth system model. Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2020-32 (2020).

  26. Byrne, B. & Goldblatt, C. Radiative forcing at high concentrations of well-mixed greenhouse gases. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 152–160 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Holland, H. D. Volcanic gases, black smokers, and the great oxidation event. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 66, 3811–3826 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Arney, G. et al. The pale orange dot: the spectrum and habitability of hazy Archean earth. Astrobiology 16, 873–899 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Haqq-Misra, J. D., Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Kasting, P. J. & Kasting, J. F. A revised, hazy methane greenhouse for the Archean earth. Astrobiology 8, 1127–1137 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Trainer, M. G. et al. Haze aerosols in the atmosphere of early Earth: manna from heaven. Astrobiology 4, 409–419 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Jenkins, J. M. et al. Discovery and validation of Kepler-452b: a 1.6R super earth exoplanet in the habitable zone of a G2 star. Astron. J. 150, 56 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Mullally, F., Thompson, S. E., Coughlin, J. L., Burke, C. J. & Rowe, J. F. Kepler’s Earth-like planets should not be confirmed without independent detection: the Case of Kepler-452b. Astron. J. 155, 210 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Mackenzie, F. T. & Kump, L. R. Reverse weathering, clay mineral formation, and oceanic element cycles. Science 270, 586–586 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Isson, T. T. & Planavsky, N. J. Reverse weathering as a long-term stabilizer of marine pH and planetary climate. Nature 560, 471–475 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wolf, E. T., Shields, A. L., Kopparapu, R. K., Haqq-Misra, J. & Toon, O. B. Constraints on climate and habitability for earth-like exoplanets determined from a general circulation model. Astrophys. J. 837, 107 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Gough, D. O. Solar interior structure and luminosity variations. Sol. Phys. 74, 21–34 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Wilde, S. A., Valley, J. W., Peck, W. H. & Graham, C. M. Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature 409, 175–178 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Reinhard, C. T., Olson, S. L., Schwieterman, E. W. & Lyons, T. W. False negatives for remote life detection on ocean-bearing planets: lessons from the early earth. Astrobiology 17, 287–297 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Schwieterman, E.W., Reinhard, C.T., Olson, S.L., Lyons, T.W. The importance of UV capabilities for identifying exoplanets with next generation space telescopes. [white paper submitted in response to the solicitation of feedback for the NAS Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe 2018 by the National Academy of Sciences] (2018).

  40. Hayes, J. M. & Waldbauer, J. R. The carbon cycle and associated redox processes through time. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 361, 931–950 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Eguchi, J., Seales, J. & Dasgupta, R. Great Oxidation and Lomagundi events linked by deep cycling and enhanced degassing of carbon. Nat. Geosci. 13, 71–76 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Evans, K. A. The redox budget of subduction zones. Earth Sci. Rev. 113, 11–32 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Kadoya, S., Catling, D. C., Nicklas, R. W., Puchtel, I. S. & Anbar, A. D. Mantle data imply a decline of oxidizable volcanic gases could have triggered the Great Oidation. Nat. Commun. 11, 2774 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Lee, C.-T. A. et al. Two-step rise of atmospheric oxygen linked to the growth of continents. Nat. Geosci. 9, 417–424 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Ozaki, K., Reinhard, C. T. & Tajika, E. A sluggish mid-Proterozoic biosphere and its effect on Earth’s redox balance. Geobiology 17, 3–11 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Ozaki, K., Tajika, E., Hong, P. K., Nakagawa, Y. & Reinhard, C. T. Effects of primitive photosynthesis on Earth’s early climate system. Nat. Geosci. 11, 55–59 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Kasting, J. F. Earth’s early atmosphere. Science 259, 920–926 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Bergman, N. M., Lenton, T. M. & Watson, A. J. COPSE: a new model of biogeochemical cycling over Phanerozoic time. Am. J. Sci. 304, 397–437 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Laakso, T. A. & Schrag, D. P. Limitations on limitation. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 32, 486–496 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Laakso, T. A. & Schrag, D. P. Methane in the Precambrian atmosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 522, 48–54 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Lenton, T. M., Daines, S. J. & Mills, B. J. W. COPSE reloaded: an improved model of biogeochemical cycling over Phanerozoic time. Earth Sci. Rev. 178, 1–28 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Hein, M. & Sand-Jensen, K. CO2 increases oceanic primary production. Nature 388, 526–527 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Riebesell, U., Wolf-Gladrow, D. A. & Smetacek, V. Carbon dioxide limitation of marine phytoplankton growth rates. Nature 361, 249–251 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Goldblatt, C., Lenton, T. M. & Watson, A. J. Bistability of atmospheric oxygen and the Great Oxidation. Nature 443, 683–686 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Galbraith, E. D. & Eggleston, S. A lower limit to atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the past 800,000 years. Nat. Geosci. 10, 295–298 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Pagani, M., Caldeira, K., Berner, R. & Beerling, D. J. The role of terrestrial plants in limiting atmospheric CO2 decline over the past 24 million years. Nature 460, 85–88 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Beerling, D., Berner, R. A., Mackenzie, F. T., Harfoot, M. B. & Pyle, J. A. Methane and the CH4 related greenhouse effect over the past 400 million years. Am. J. Sci. 309, 97–113 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Canfield, D. E. The evolution of the earth surface sulfur reservoir. Am. J. Sci. 304, 839–861 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Lécuyer, C. & Ricard, Y. Long-term fluxes and budget of ferric iron: implication for the redox states of the Earth’s mantle and atmosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 165, 197–211 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Catling, D. C. & Kasting, J. F. Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017).

  61. Williams, D. M. & Kasting, J. F. Habitable planets with high obliquities. Icarus 129, 254–267 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Pierrehumbert, R. T., Abbot, D. S., Voigt, A. & Koll, D. Climate of the neoproterozoic. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 39, 417–460 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Goldblatt, C., Robinson, T. D., Zahnle, K. J. & Crisp, D. Low simulated radiation limit for runaway greenhouse climates. Nat. Geosci. 6, 661–667 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Kopparapu, R. K. et al. Habitable zones around main-sequence stars: new estimates. Astrophys. J. 765, 131 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Abe, Y., Abe-Ouchi, A., Sleep, N. H. & Zahnle, K. J. Habitable zone limits for dry planets. Astrobiology 11, 443–460 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Krissansen-Totton, J., Arney, G. N. & Catling, D. C. Constraining the climate and ocean pH of the early Earth with a geological carbon cycle model. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, 4105–4110 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Krissansen-Totton, J. & Catling, D. C. Constraining climate sensitivity and continental versus seafloor weathering using an inverse geological carbon cycle model. Nat. Commun. 8, 15423 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Graham, R. J. & Pierrehumbert, R. Thermodynamic and energetic limits on continental silicate weathering strongly impact the climate and habitability of wet, rocky worlds. Astrophys. J. 896, 115 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Winnick, M. J. & Maher, K. Relationships between CO2, thermodynamic limits on silicate weathering, and the strength of the silicate weathering feedback. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 485, 111–120 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Royer, D. L., Donnadieu, Y., Park, J., Kowalczyk, J. & Goddéris, Y. Error analysis of CO2 and O2 estimates from the long-term geochemical model GEOCARBSULF. Am. J. Sci. 314, 1259-1283, https://doi.org/10.2475/09.2014.01 (2014).

  71. Ibarra, D. E. et al. Modeling the consequences of land plant evolution on silicate weathering. Am. J. Sci. 319, 1–43 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Moulton, K. L. & Berner, R. A. Quantification of the effect of plants on weathering: studies in Iceland. Geology 26, 895–898 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references