Potential links between intense volcanism and the late-Archean “whiff” of oxygen

Potential links between intense volcanism and the late-Archean “whiff” of oxygen | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Potential links between intense volcanism and the late-Archean “whiff” of oxygen Yasuto Watanabe, Kazumi Ozaki, Mariko Harada, Hironao Matsumoto, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4706075/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Archean Earth was characterized by a persistent weakly reducing atmosphere, while accumulated geological records suggest occurrence of transient atmospheric oxygenation events—whiff of oxygen—during the late Archean, the precise nature and causes of which remain elusive. We used a biogeochemical model to propose the eruption of large igneous provinces (LIPs) as a plausible mechanistic explanation for the transient oxygenation events in the late Archean atmosphere. Here we show that biogeochemical dynamics induced by LIP eruptions could have caused transient increase in the level of atmospheric oxygen (O2) for more than several million years. Notably, continental growth during the late Archean would have mitigated the conditions for transient oxygenation, suggesting that the late Archean Earth system approached a tipping point for permanent oxidation of the atmosphere. The late Archean atmosphere might have evolved dynamically through interactions with the ocean and the biosphere, modified by LIP eruptions. Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoceanography Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryLIPArcheanCEE.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4706075","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":327879854,"identity":"e7a00a5a-60d0-47f9-bcbd-3b105d9adc34","order_by":0,"name":"Yasuto 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