Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001oleb...31..271k&link_type=abstract
Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, Volume 31, Issue 3, pp.271-285
Physics
16
Archean Atmosphere, Archean Ecosystems, Atmospheric Methane, Methanogenic Bacteria, Paleoclimate
Scientific paper
A simple coupled ecosystem-climate model is described that canpredict levels of atmospheric CH4, CO2, and H2during the Late Archean, given observed constraints on Earth'ssurface temperature. We find that methanogenic bacteria shouldhave converted most of the available atmospheric H2 intoCH4, and that CH4 may have been equal in importance to CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Photolysis of this CH4 may have produced a hydrocarbon smog layer that would have shielded the surface from solar UV radiation. Methanotrophic bacteria would have consumed some of the atmospheric CH4,but they would have been incapable of reducing CH4 to modern levels. The rise of O2 around 2.3 Ga would have drastically reduced the atmospheric CH4 concentrationand may thereby have triggered the Huronian glaciation.
Kasting James F.
Pavlov Alexander A.
Siefert Janet L.
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