Assessing the level and fluctuation of atmospheric oxygen across and after the Great Oxidation Event using a unique set of iron formations

MSc Markus Gogouvitis, Dr. Ilka Kleinhanns (Schoenberg) & Prof. Dr. Ronny Schoenberg

Early Earth's atmosphere and oceans are generally understood to have been anoxic. Through the emergence of oxygen-producing microbes O2 accumulated in the atmosphere until the 2.4-2.3 Ga Great Oxidation Event (GOE) where it became irreversibly oxidised.
The goal of this research project is to refine our understanding of oxygen level fluctuations during the GOE and its aftermath and assess changes in the chemical architecture of the Paleoproterozoic oceans. Iron and manganese-rich rocks act as chemical archives for past redox conditions. The study area is located in the Hamersley Basin of the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia. All iron formations where mapped and full sample suites for geochemical and petrological analyses have been collected during a field trip in 2018.

Funding

  • DAAD: 1-year scholarship for bi-nationally supervised PhD candidates – awarded to Markus Gogouvitis
  • DFG: 3-year individual project funding

Collaborators:

  • Prof. Dr. Martin Van Kranendonk, Australian Centre for Astrobiology (University of New South Wales)