Researchers find first direct evidence of a 'glacial oxygen pump,' which they say extended an essential lifeline to the simple life forms that inhabited the Earth at the time.
Researchers from McGill University in California are closing in on this mystery, having found the first direct evidence of a"glacial oxygen pump," which they say extended an essential lifeline to the simple life forms that inhabited the Earth at the time.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
But despite being virtually uninhabitable, these harsh conditions may have actually been a key stepping stone in the evolution of more complex life, scientists suggest. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the planet was an inhabitable snowglobe. New research helps explain how life was able to survive in such harsh conditions.Lechte refers to a"glacial oxygen pump" created by air bubbles trapped in glacial ice. These air bubbles are released into the water as the ice melts, he says, giving it oxygen.
"This study actually solves two mysteries about the Snowball Earth at once. It not only provides explanation for how early animals may have survived global glaciation, but also eloquently explains the return of iron deposits in the geological record after an absence of over a billion years," said Galen Halverson, Associate Professor Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at McGill.
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