Could volcanic eruptions have had an effect on the Great Oxidation Event (GOE)? (© Fotos 593 – stock.adobe.com)
Ancient eruptions may have triggered conditions for oxygen ‘whiffs’ in the atmosphere
In a nutshell
- Massive volcanic events known as Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) likely released carbon dioxide, warming the planet and increasing nutrient runoff into the ocean. This fueled photosynthetic microbes, temporarily boosting oxygen levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
- As continents expanded, they provided more surface area for nutrient weathering, making the ocean more fertile. This increased the likelihood that volcanic eruptions would trigger oxygen spikes, pushing Earth closer to permanent atmospheric oxygenation.
- These transient oxygenation events may have helped microorganisms develop oxygen-processing abilities before oxygen became a permanent part of the atmosphere, ultimately shaping the conditions for complex life to emerge.
TOKYO — For nearly 90% of Earth’s history, our planet’s atmosphere contained almost no oxygen, making it completely uninhabitable for humans and most modern life forms. Then, around 2.5 billion years ago, something remarkable happened: Earth’s atmosphere began to fill with oxygen in what scientists call the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). This atmospheric revolution changed our planet’s chemistry and paved the way for complex life.
But this wasn’t a sudden change. Before the GOE, Earth’s atmosphere occasionally experienced temporary “whiffs” of oxygen—mysterious spikes that came and went. What caused these oxygen previews has puzzled scientists for years. Now, researchers from the university of Tokyo have found a surprising answer: massive volcanic eruptions.
Volcanoes: Unlikely oxygen producers
In a study published in Communications Earth & Environment, scientists showed how enormous volcanic eruptions known as Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) could have triggered these temporary oxygen events. Their computer models revealed that intense volcanic periods could have caused oxygen increases lasting several million years.
But how could volcanoes, which release carbon dioxide and other gases, lead to more oxygen? The answer involves a chain reaction through Earth’s early systems.
When these enormous eruptions occurred, they released vast amounts of carbon dioxide, warming the planet. This warming increased the breakdown of continental rocks, releasing phosphorus into the oceans. This phosphorus fed photosynthesizing microbes, which produced oxygen as a byproduct.
“Activity of microorganisms in the ocean played a central role in the evolution of atmospheric oxygen. However, we think this would not have immediately led to atmospheric oxygenation because the amount of nutrients such as phosphate in the ocean at that time was limited,” says professor Eiichi Tajika from the University of Tokyo, in a statement. “It likely took some massive geological events to seed the oceans with nutrients, including the growth of the continents and, as we suggest in our paper, intense volcanic activity.”
Ancient rocks tell the tale
These findings explain puzzling evidence found in rocks like the Mt. McRae Shale in Australia. Deposited around 2.5 billion years ago, this rock contains elevated levels of elements like molybdenum and rhenium, which point to a temporary oxygen increase. This oxygen spike would have lasted between several million to 11 million years, matching what the models predict.
The evidence for these oxygen whiffs isn’t limited to one location. The original research paper notes that the whiff event recorded in Mt. McRae Shale coincided with redox-sensitive element enrichment in the Klein Naute Formation in South Africa. This suggests these oxygen increases may have been widespread phenomena rather than isolated local events.
This makes sense based on our understanding of how Earth’s surface was evolving at this time. The late Archean period was a time of significant planetary change. Continents were growing, volcanic activity was reshaping the surface, and life was evolving new metabolic capabilities.
“Understanding the whiffs is critical for constraining the timing of the emergence of photosynthetic microorganisms,” says visiting research associate Yasuto Watanabe. “The biggest challenge was to develop a numerical model that could simulate the complex, dynamic behavior of biogeochemical cycles under late Archean conditions.”
The continental connection
©2025 Watanabe et al. CC-BY-ND)
The study suggests that as continents grew larger during the late Archean period (about 3.5 to 2.5 billion years ago), Earth became more susceptible to these oxygen whiffs. With more land surface, more phosphorus and other nutrients could potentially be weathered and washed into the oceans, amplifying the effect of volcanic eruptions.
The researchers’ models indicate that when continents were small, even massive volcanic eruptions might not have triggered significant oxygen whiffs. But as continents grew, the same-sized eruption could produce a much larger oxygen response.
The researchers tested this idea by running their model with different continental sizes and volcanic inputs. With small continental areas, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would increase dramatically after an eruption (to around 500 times present levels), but marine nutrient concentrations would barely change. This limited nutrient availability meant photosynthetic oxygen production stayed low.
However, as continental area increased in the model, the same volcanic eruption led to significant increases in marine nutrients and oxygen production. This pattern might help explain why oxygen whiffs seem to have become more common in the late Archean, just before the Great Oxidation Event.
Evolutionary pressures and modern implications
These periodic oxygen previews may have created conditions for early life forms to develop oxygen-processing abilities long before oxygen became a permanent feature of Earth’s atmosphere. These temporary spikes could have created evolutionary pressure for microorganisms to develop mechanisms for dealing with oxygen. The ability to detoxify oxygen or use it metabolically would later become advantageous when oxygen became permanently abundant in the atmosphere.
Each volcanic eruption that triggered an oxygen whiff may have pushed Earth’s system closer to the tipping point for permanent oxygenation. Ancient volcanoes’ fiery eruptions billions of years ago might have helped set the stage for the oxygen-filled atmosphere we all depend on today.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers developed a biogeochemical model simulating interactions between Earth’s early atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere. The model tracked carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, oxygen, and calcium cycles in five ocean regions plus the atmosphere. To test their volcanic hypothesis, the team simulated Large Igneous Province eruptions based on the Ontong Java Plateau—Earth’s largest known volcanic event—assuming 400,000-year eruption periods. They then observed how these simulated eruptions affected Earth’s climate and chemistry under various continental sizes and volcanic intensities.
Results
The model showed that major volcanic eruptions could indeed trigger temporary atmospheric oxygen increases lasting 1-10 million years. Following an eruption, atmospheric oxygen would initially decrease slightly before rising significantly as enhanced weathering delivered nutrients to the oceans. With sufficient carbon dioxide input, oxygen levels could increase from nearly zero to levels detectable in the geological record. The magnitude of these “whiffs” depended strongly on continental size—larger land masses amplified the oxygen response, suggesting Earth became more susceptible to these events as continents grew during the late Archean period.
Limitations
The box modeling approach doesn’t account for regional ocean differences, which may affect how accurately the model represents local environmental conditions where geochemical signals formed. The study assumes mostly above-water volcanic eruptions, though underwater eruptions were likely more common in the Archean. There’s also uncertainty about the exact composition of gases released during ancient eruptions. The model doesn’t account for potential biological evolution during the simulated timeframes, which could have affected oxygen production and consumption rates.
Discussion and Takeaways
This research provides the first mechanistic explanation for how Earth’s early atmosphere could have experienced temporary oxygen increases before the Great Oxidation Event. The connection between volcanic activity and oxygenation helps explain puzzling geochemical evidence in ancient rocks. The findings suggest Earth’s oxygenation wasn’t a simple on-off switch but a dynamic process with preview events that preceded permanent change. These temporary oxygen increases likely created evolutionary pressure for early life forms to develop oxygen-processing mechanisms long before oxygen became permanently abundant. The work demonstrates how Earth’s geological, chemical, and biological systems are fundamentally interconnected, with volcanic activity potentially influencing the evolutionary trajectory of life.
Funding and Disclosures
This research was supported by Grant-in-aid for JSPS KAKENHI Grants Number 24H00267 and JST FOREST Program (Grant JPMJFR2274, Japan). The authors declared no competing interests.
Publication Information
The study, “Mechanistic links between intense volcanism and the transient oxygenation of the Archean atmosphere,” was published in Communications Earth & Environment (2025, volume 6, article 178) on March 10, 2025. The research team included Yasuto Watanabe, Kazumi Ozaki, Mariko Harada, Hironao Matsumoto, and Eiichi Tajika.
