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Archean Life

The Archean Eon

Fun Facts

• Halobacteria were thought to live in the Archean earth because they absorb all light but purple causing a purple ocean
• cyanobacteria bloomed causing the major event

(PBS, 2017)

• Xenon reacted with hydrogen
• the xenon and hydrogen escaped the atmosphere
• the escaped xenon and hydrogen oxidized the atmosphere (Catling and Zahnle, 2020).
• Ocean was dominated by retinol-using bacteria not dependent on oxygen (PBS, 2017).

By Olivia Hardway

4-2.5 billion years ago (Catling and Zahnle, 2020)

Purple Earth during Archean Eon

Major Event

During the Mid-Archean Eon major deposits of gold formed in Southern Africa. This formation happened during a time of growth in the Earth's crust. During this time the mantle had an increase in noble metal. The gold analyzed in the study "A Major Archean, Gold- and Crust-Forming Event in the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa" supports these findings (Kirk et al., 2002).

Archean Atmosphere

• O2 gas levels were significantly less than now
• Nitrogenous gas was the same as today
• Carbon dioxide was significantly higher than today
• methane was significantly more

(Catling and Zahnle, 2020)

References

Catling, DC., KJ. Zahnle.2020. The Archean Atmosphere. Science. 6(9). Kirk, J., J. Ruiz, J. Chesley, J. Walshe, G. England.2002. A Major Archean, Gold- and Crust-Forming Event in the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa.Science. 297:1856-1858. PBS. (2017, October 9). When the Earth was Purple. [Eons]. Youtube. https://www.pbs.org/video/when-the-earth-was-purple-acpjlv/

Halobacteria