Scientists Trace How Phosphorus Triggered Earth's Oxygen Revolution

Researchers from UC Riverside and the University of Leeds used rocks from South Africa's Transvaal Supergroup to show that melting ice sheets 2.4 billion years ago washed phosphorus and sulfur into the oceans. Phosphorus fueled microbial blooms, and carbon burial in seafloor sediments let oxygen build up in the atmosphere. Oxygen levels stayed unstable for over 200 million years.

• Melting ice 2.4 billion years ago washed phosphorus and sulfur into the oceans
• Carbon burial in sediments allowed oxygen to accumulate in the atmosphere
• Oxygen fluctuations persisted for more than 200 million years
• The study was published in Nature Communications