Earth:Paleoproterozoic

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The Paleoproterozoic Era[3] (also spelled Palaeoproterozoic) is the first of the three sub-divisions (eras) of the Proterozoic eon, and also the longest era of the Earth's geological history, spanning from 2,500 to 1,600 million years ago (2.5–1.6 Ga). It is further subdivided into four geologic periods, namely the Siderian, Rhyacian, Orosirian and Statherian.

Paleontological evidence suggests that the Earth's rotational rate ~1.8 billion years ago equated to 20-hour days, implying a total of ~450 days per year.[4] It was during this era that the continents first stabilized.[clarification needed]

Cyanobacteria

The Paleoproterozoic has the oldest known cyanobacterial fossils, those of Eoentophysalis belcherensis, from 2.0165 billion years ago.[5] As the first organisms known to have produced oxygen,[6] cyanobacteria are generally thought responsible for oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere and the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) 2.46–2.426 billion years ago.[7] Their evolution was also proposed to have caused a subsequent Makganyene "snowball earth" 2.3–2.2 billion years ago.[8][9][10] The GOE preceding a Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth has been argued unambiguously confirmed, but likely evolved earlier.[11]

While still debated within the last few years,[12] recent science considers it established that cyanobacteria, or their common ancestor, originated as early as 2.9 to three billion years ago, in the Mesoarchean.[13][14] The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis can be seen before the Great Oxidation Event, evidenced by the production of oxygen in Neoarchaean water environments following the Mesoarchean.[11] Possible but questionable cyanobacterial fossils date back to 3.4 billion years ago, the Palaeoarchaean.[15]

Atmosphere

Main articles: Earth:Prebiotic atmosphere, Geological history of oxygen, and Great Oxygenation Event

The Earth's atmosphere was originally a weakly reducing atmosphere consisting largely of nitrogen, methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and inert gases, in total comparable to Titan's atmosphere.[16] When oxygenic photosynthesis evolved in cyanobacteria during the Mesoarchean, the increasing amount of byproduct dioxygen began to deplete the reductants in the ocean, land surface and the atmosphere.[17]

Eventually all surface reductants (particularly ferrous iron, sulfur and atmospheric methane) were exhausted, and the atmospheric free oxygen levels soared permanently during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods in an aerochemical event called the Great Oxidation Event, which brought atmospheric oxygen from near none to up to 10% of the modern level.[17]

Life

Further information: Symbiogenesis

At the beginning of the preceding Archean eon, almost all existing lifeforms were single-cell prokaryotic anaerobic organisms whose metabolism was based on a form of cellular respiration that did not require oxygen. Autotrophs were either chemosynthetic, or relied upon anoxygenic photosynthesis. After the Great Oxygenation Event, the then mainly archaea-dominated anaerobic microbial mats were devastated as free oxygen is highly reactive and biologically toxic to cellular structures. This was compounded by a 300-million-year-long global icehouse event known as the Huronian glaciation — at least partly due to the depletion of atmospheric methane, a powerful greenhouse gas — resulting in what is widely considered one of the first and most significant mass extinctions on Earth.[18][19]

The organisms that thrived after the extinction were mainly aerobes that evolved bioactive antioxidants and eventually aerobic respiration. Surviving anaerobes were forced to live symbiotically alongside aerobes in hybrid colonies, which enabled the evolution of mitochondria in eukaryotic organisms. The oldest known Eukaryote, Tappania plana, appearing by the end of the Paleoproterozoic.[5]Thylakoid-bearing cyanobacteria evolved by 1.75 Ga, as evidenced by fossils from the McDermott Formation of Australia.[12]

Many crown node eukaryotes (from which the modern-day eukaryotic lineages would have arisen) have been approximately dated to around the time of the Paleoproterozoic Era.[20][21][22] While there is some debate as to the exact time at which eukaryotes evolved,[23][24] current understanding places it somewhere in this era.[25][26][27] Statherian fossils from the Changcheng Group in North China provide evidence that eukaryotic life was already diverse by the late Palaeoproterozoic.[28]

Geological events

During this era, the earliest global-scale continent-continent collision belts developed. The associated continent and mountain building events are represented by the 2.1–2.0 Ga Trans-Amazonian and Eburnean orogens in South America and West Africa; the ~2.0 Ga Limpopo Belt in southern Africa; the 1.9–1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson, Penokean, Taltson–Thelon, Wopmay, Ungava and Torngat orogens in North America, the 1.9–1.8 Ga Nagssugtoqidian orogen in Greenland; the 1.9–1.8 Ga Kola–Karelia, Svecofennian, Volhyn-Central Russian, and Pachelma orogens in Baltica (Eastern Europe); the 1.9–1.8 Ga Akitkan Orogen in Siberia; the ~1.95 Ga Khondalite Belt; the ~1.85 Ga Trans-North China Orogen in North China; and the 1.8-1.6 Ga Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies in southern North America.

That pattern of collision belts supports the formation of a Proterozoic supercontinent named Columbia or Nuna.[29][30] That continental collisions suddenly led to mountain building at large scale is interpreted as having resulted from increased biomass and carbon burial during and after the Great Oxidation Event: Subducted carbonaceous sediments are hypothesized to have lubricated compressive deformation and led to crustal thickening.[31]

Felsic volcanism in what is now northern Sweden led to the formation of the Kiruna and Arvidsjaur porphyries.[32]

The lithospheric mantle of Patagonia's oldest blocks formed.[33]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "palaeo-". palaeo-. Oxford University Press. http://www.lexico.com/definition/palaeo-.  "Proterozoic". Proterozoic. Oxford University Press. http://www.lexico.com/definition/Proterozoic. 
  2. ↑ "Proterozoic". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Proterozoic. 
  3. ↑ There are several ways of pronouncing Paleoproterozoic, including IPA: /ˌpælioʊˌproʊtərəˈzoʊɪk, ˌpeɪ-, -liə-, -ˌprɒt-, -əroʊ-, -trə-, -troʊ-/ PAL-ee-oh-PROH-tər-ə-ZOH-ik, PAY-, -⁠PROT-, -⁠ər-oh-, -⁠trə-, -⁠troh-.[1][2]
  4. ↑ Pannella, Giorgio (1972). "Paleontological evidence on the Earth's rotational history since early precambrian". Astrophysics and Space Science 16 (2): 212. doi:10.1007/BF00642735. Bibcode: 1972Ap&SS..16..212P. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hodgskiss, Malcolm S.W.; Dagnaud, Olivia M.J.; Frost, Jamie L.; Halverson, Galen P.; Schmitz, Mark D.; Swanson-Hysell, Nicholas L.; Sperling, Erik A. (August 2019). "New insights on the Orosirian carbon cycle, early Cyanobacteria, and the assembly of Laurentia from the Paleoproterozoic Belcher Group". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 520: 141–152. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2019.05.023. Bibcode: 2019E&PSL.520..141H. 
  6. ↑ "The geologic history of primary productivity". Current Biology 33 (21): 4741–4750.e5. November 2023. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.040. PMID 37827153. Bibcode: 2023CBio...33E4741C. 
  7. ↑ Schirrmeister, Bettina E.; Gugger, Muriel; Donoghue, Philip C. J. (September 2015). "Cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event: evidence from genes and fossils". Palaeontology 58 (5): 769–785. doi:10.1111/pala.12178. PMID 26924853. Bibcode: 2015Palgy..58..769S. 
  8. ↑ Kopp, Robert E.; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Hilburn, Isaac A.; Nash, Cody Z. (9 August 2005). "The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: a climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (32): 11131–11136. doi:10.1073/pnas.0504878102. PMID 16061801. Bibcode: 2005PNAS..10211131K. 
  9. ↑ Kopp, Robert E.; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Hilburn, Isaac A.; Nash, Cody Z. (Aug 9, 2005). "The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: a climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (32): 11131–11136. doi:10.1073/pnas.0504878102. PMID 16061801. PMC 1183582. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1183582/. Retrieved September 29, 2026. 
  10. ↑ Warke, Matthew R.; Di Rocco, Tommaso; Zerkle, Aubrey L.; Lepland, Aivo; Prave, Anthony R.; Martin, Adam P.; Ueno, Yuichiro; Condon, Daniel J. et al. (Jun 16, 2020). "The Great Oxidation Event preceded a Paleoproterozoic “snowball Earth”". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) 117 (24): 13314–13320. doi:10.1073/pnas.2003090117. PMID 32482849. PMC 7306805. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2003090117. Retrieved September 29, 2026. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Warke, Matthew R.; Di Rocco, Tommaso; Zerkle, Aubrey L.; Lepland, Aivo; Prave, Anthony R.; Martin, Adam P.; Ueno, Yuichiro; Condon, Daniel J. et al. (Jun 16, 2020). "The Great Oxidation Event preceded a Paleoproterozoic "snowball Earth"". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 (24): 13314–13320. doi:10.1073/pnas.2003090117. PMID 32482849. PMC 7306805. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7306805/. Retrieved September 29, 2026. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Demoulin, Catherine F.; Lara, Yannick J.; Lambion, Alexandre; Javaux, Emmanuelle J. (18 January 2024). "Oldest thylakoids in fossil cells directly evidence oxygenic photosynthesis". Nature 625 (7995): 529–534. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06896-7. PMID 38172638. Bibcode: 2024Natur.625..529D. 
  13. ↑ Chu, Jennifer (28 September 2021). "Zeroing in on the origins of Earth's "single most important evolutionary innovation". MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2021/photosynthesis-evolution-origins-0928. 
  14. ↑ Chu, Jennifer (6 February 2026). "Some early life forms may have breathed oxygen well before it filled the atmosphere". MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2026/some-early-life-forms-may-have-breathed-oxygen-before-filling-atmosphere-0206. 
  15. ↑ Lepot, Kevin (October 2020). "Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon". Earth-Science Reviews 209. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103296. Bibcode: 2020ESRv..20903296L. 
  16. ↑ Trainer, Melissa G.; Pavlov, Alexander A.; DeWitt, H. Langley; Jimenez, Jose L.; McKay, Christopher P.; Toon, Owen B.; Tolbert, Margaret A. (28 November 2006). "Organic haze on Titan and the early Earth". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 (48): 18035–18042. doi:10.1073/pnas.0608561103. PMID 17101962. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Ossa Ossa, Frantz; Spangenberg, Jorge E.; Bekker, Andrey; König, Stephan; Stüeken, Eva E.; Hofmann, Axel; Poulton, Simon W.; Yierpan, Aierken et al. (15 September 2022). "Moderate levels of oxygenation during the late stage of Earth's Great Oxidation Event". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 594. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117716. Bibcode: 2022E&PSL.59417716O. 
  18. ↑ Hodgskiss, Malcolm S. W.; Crockford, Peter W.; Peng, Yongbo; Wing, Boswell A.; Horner, Tristan J. (27 August 2019). "A productivity collapse to end Earth's Great Oxidation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116 (35): 17207–17212. doi:10.1073/pnas.1900325116. PMID 31405980. Bibcode: 2019PNAS..11617207H. 
  19. ↑ Margulis, Lynn; Sagan, Dorion (1997). Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21064-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=eo_sMMRxgAUC&q=oxygen+holocaust&pg=PA99. 
  20. ↑ Mänd, Kaarel; Planavsky, Noah J.; Porter, Susannah M.; Robbins, Leslie J.; Wang, Changle; Kreitsmann, Timmu; Paiste, Kärt; Paiste, Päärn et al. (April 2022). "Chromium evidence for protracted oxygenation during the Paleoproterozoic". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 584. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117501. Bibcode: 2022E&PSL.58417501M. 
  21. ↑ Hedges, S Blair; Chen, Hsiong; Kumar, Sudhir; Wang, Daniel YC; Thompson, Amanda S; Watanabe, Hidemi (12 September 2001). "A genomic timescale for the origin of eukaryotes". BMC Evolutionary Biology 1 (1). doi:10.1186/1471-2148-1-4. PMID 11580860. Bibcode: 2001BMCEB...1....4H. 
  22. ↑ Hedges, S Blair; Blair, Jaime E; Venturi, Maria L; Shoe, Jason L (28 January 2004). "A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life". BMC Evolutionary Biology 4 (1). doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-2. PMID 15005799. 
  23. ↑ Rodríguez-Trelles, Francisco; Tarrío, Rosa; Ayala, Francisco J. (11 June 2002). "A methodological bias toward overestimation of molecular evolutionary time scales". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99 (12): 8112–8115. doi:10.1073/pnas.122231299. PMID 12060757. Bibcode: 2002PNAS...99.8112R. 
  24. ↑ Stechmann, Alexandra; Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (5 July 2002). "Rooting the Eukaryote Tree by Using a Derived Gene Fusion". Science 297 (5578): 89–91. doi:10.1126/science.1071196. PMID 12098695. Bibcode: 2002Sci...297...89S. 
  25. ↑ Ayala, Francisco José; Rzhetsky, Andrey; Ayala, Francisco J. (20 January 1998). "Origin of the metazoan phyla: Molecular clocks confirm paleontological estimates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95 (2): 606–611. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.2.606. PMID 9435239. Bibcode: 1998PNAS...95..606J. 
  26. ↑ Wang, Daniel Y.-C.; Kumar, Sudhir; Hedges, S. Blair (22 January 1999). "Divergence time estimates for the early history of animal phyla and the origin of plants, animals and fungi". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 266 (1415): 163–171. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0617. PMID 10097391. 
  27. ↑ Javaux, Emmanuelle J.; Lepot, Kevin (January 2018). "The Paleoproterozoic fossil record: Implications for the evolution of the biosphere during Earth's middle-age". Earth-Science Reviews 176: 68–86. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.10.001. Bibcode: 2018ESRv..176...68J. 
  28. ↑ Miao, Lanyun; Moczydłowska, Małgorzata; Zhu, Shixing; Zhu, Maoyan (February 2019). "New record of organic-walled, morphologically distinct microfossils from the late Paleoproterozoic Changcheng Group in the Yanshan Range, North China". Precambrian Research 321: 172–198. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2018.11.019. Bibcode: 2019PreR..321..172M. 
  29. ↑ Zhao, Guochun; Cawood, Peter A; Wilde, Simon A; Sun, Min (2002). "Review of global 2.1–1.8 Ga orogens: implications for a pre-Rodinia supercontinent". Earth-Science Reviews 59 (1–4): 125–162. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00073-9. Bibcode: 2002ESRv...59..125Z. 
  30. ↑ Zhao, Guochun; Sun, Min; Wilde, Simon A.; Li, Sanzhong (September 2004). "A Paleo-Mesoproterozoic supercontinent: assembly, growth and breakup". Earth-Science Reviews 67 (1–2): 91–123. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2004.02.003. Bibcode: 2004ESRv...67...91Z. 
  31. ↑ Parnell, John; Brolly, Connor (26 November 2021). "Increased biomass and carbon burial 2 billion years ago triggered mountain building". Communications Earth & Environment 2 (1). doi:10.1038/s43247-021-00313-5. Bibcode: 2021ComEE...2..238P. 
  32. ↑ Lundqvist, Thomas (2009) (in sv). Porfyr i Sverige: En geologisk översikt. Sveriges geologiska undersökning. pp. 24–27. ISBN 978-91-7158-960-6. 
  33. ↑ Schilling, Manuel Enrique; Carlson, Richard Walter; Tassara, Andrés; Conceição, Rommulo Viveira; Berotto, Gustavo Walter; Vásquez, Manuel; Muñoz, Daniel; Jalowitzki, Tiago et al. (2017). "The origin of Patagonia revealed by Re-Os systematics of mantle xenoliths". Precambrian Research 294: 15–32. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2017.03.008. Bibcode: 2017PreR..294...15S. 

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