英国利兹大学Lewis J. Alcott等研究人员发现逐步地球氧化是全球生物地球化学循环的固有特性。 2019年12月13日，国际知名学术期刊《科学》发表了这一成果。

使用理论模型，研究人员观察到的氧化步骤是碳、氧和磷的长期生物地球化学循环中内部反馈的简单结果，并且不需要特定的逐步外部驱动力来解释地球表面氧合作用的过程。研究人员认为，在光合作用发生后，地球的氧化事件与行星表面的逐渐氧化完全一致。

据了解，在古元古代、新元古代和古生代时代，地球大气和海洋的氧化过程经历了三个主要步骤，每一个步骤的增加都对生物圈产生了深远的影响。目前已经提出了生物或地壳构造革命来解释这些逐步增加的氧气，但是每个事件的主要驱动因素仍不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Stepwise Earth oxygenation is an inherent property of global biogeochemical cycling

Author: Lewis J. Alcott, Benjamin J. W. Mills, Simon W. Poulton

Issue&Volume: 2019/12/13

Abstract: Oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans occurred across three major steps during the Paleoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Paleozoic eras, with each increase having profound consequences for the biosphere. Biological or tectonic revolutions have been proposed to explain each of these stepwise increases in oxygen, but the principal driver of each event remains unclear. Here we show, using a theoretical model, that the observed oxygenation steps are a simple consequence of internal feedbacks in the long-term biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, and phosphorus, and that there is no requirement for a specific stepwise external forcing to explain the course of Earth surface oxygenation. We conclude that Earth’s oxygenation events are entirely consistent with gradual oxygenation of the planetary surface after the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6459

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6471/1333