Reconstructing early ocean chemistry in space and time

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Investigations of early ocean chemistry have provided new insights into the oxygenation history of the Earth's early biosphere as well as the kill and trigger mechanisms of Phanerozoic mass extinctions. There is strong evidence that atmospheric oxygen rose dramatically between 2.3~2.3 Ga for the first time in the Earth's history. Oxygen availability in early Proterozoic oceans may have influenced biogeochemical cycling of many redox-sensitive elements (S, C, P, Fe, Mn, etc.) and, as a consequence, ocean chemistry. Therefore, reconstruction of early ocean chemistry in space and time may provide one of the most important examples of how geological and biological processes interplay at the surface of the Earth.