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The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of oxygen atoms between different oxidation states in ions, oxides, and molecules through redox reactions within and between the spheres/reservoirs of the planet Earth. [ 1] The word oxygen in the literature typically refers to the most common oxygen allotrope, elemental/diatomic oxygen (O 2 ), as it ...
Oxygen began building up in the atmosphere at approximately 1.85 Ga. At current rates of primary production, today's concentration of oxygen could be produced by photosynthetic organisms in 2,000 years. [ 4] In the absence of plants, the rate of oxygen production by photosynthesis was slower in the Precambrian, and the concentrations of O 2 ...
Paleoclimatology ( British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the scientific study of climates predating the invention of meteorological instruments, when no direct measurement data were available. [ 1] As instrumental records only span a tiny part of Earth's history, the reconstruction of ancient climate is important to understand natural ...
Tetraoxygen was first predicted in 1924 by Gilbert N. Lewis, who proposed it as an explanation for the failure of liquid oxygen to obey Curie's law. [1] Though not entirely inaccurate, computer simulations indicate that although there are no stable O 4 molecules in liquid oxygen, O 2 molecules do tend to associate in pairs with antiparallel spins, forming transient O 4 units. [2]
Photosynthesis had another major impact. Oxygen was toxic; much life on Earth probably died out as its levels rose in what is known as the oxygen catastrophe. Resistant forms survived and thrived, and some developed the ability to use oxygen to increase their metabolism and obtain more energy from the same food. [113]
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds. Oxygen is the most abundant element in Earth's crust, and after hydrogen and helium, it ...
Anaerobic respiration is a critical component of the global nitrogen, iron, sulfur, and carbon cycles through the reduction of the oxyanions of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon to more-reduced compounds. The biogeochemical cycling of these compounds, which depends upon anaerobic respiration, significantly impacts the carbon cycle and global warming.
Oxygen-20 has a half-life of 13.51 ± 0.05 s and decays by β − decay to 20 F. It is one of the known cluster decay ejected particles, being emitted in the decay of 228 Th with a branching ratio of about (1.13 ± 0.22) × 10 −13. [24]