Approximately 2.4 billion years ago the ocean was very different from today. Instead of being full of life it was abundant with iron. Because iron was insoluble in the presence of oxygen and water this is what scientist accredit the creations of the oceans similar to today. The other theory was that high amounts of H2S are what truly all but depleted the amount of iron in the ocean. Then because there was a gradual increase in the oxygen level in the atmosphere, that led to an increase oxidation in of the sulfur. The sulfur began to breakdown because of H2S bacteria in the absence of oxygen break down sulfur. Scientist was able to analyze sediment from 760 million years ago and there was a lack of sulfur in the sample, which was very surprising to scientists. But was most striking about the discovery was that the ocean was high in iron and anoxia. Unfortunately one does not know about the true relationship between iron and sulfur in the ocean. We may never either.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/321/5891/923.full
Posted by Daniel Hellman
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