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Researchers Detect Hint of Oxygen 50 to 100 Million-Years-Earlier than First Believed


September 27, 2007

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Two multinational teams of scientists, including researchers from Arizona State University, are reporting that traces of oxygen appeared in the earth's atmosphere 50 to 100 million-years-before the "Great Oxidation Event." Analyzing layers of sedimentary rock in a core sample from the Hamersley Basin in Western Australia, the researchers report finding evidence that a small but significant amount of oxygen--a whiff--was present in the oceans and possibly in the earth's atmosphere.Full Story

Source
Arizona State University

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