Posted on 10/28/2010 3:32:11 PM PDT by decimon
A University of Alberta geomicrobiologist and his PhD student are part of a research team that has identified phosphorus as the mystery ingredient that pushed oxygen levels in the oceans high enough to establish the first animals on Earth 750 million years ago.
By examining ancient-ocean sediments, Kurt Konhauser, student Stefan Lalonde and other colleagues discovered that as the last glacier to encircle Earth receded, leaving behind glacial debris containing phosphorus that washed into the oceans. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that promoted the growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green-algae, and its metabolic byproduct is oxygen. The new, higher oxygen levels in the ocean reached a threshold favourable for animals to evolve.
Konhauser's past research into ancient phosphorus levels in a unique suite of rocks called banded iron formations led him and his colleagues at the University of California Riverside to their current findings.
In 2007, Konhauser and his U of A team published research in the magazine Science that was contrary to the then-accepted theory that phosphorus was scarce throughout much of Earth's history, it was in fact plentiful.
"Now in 2010 we showed that phosphorus levels actually peaked between 750 and 635 million years ago at the very same time that oxygen levels increased, allowing complex life forms to emerge," says Lalonde. "That establishes our link between phosphorus and the evolution of animals."
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Konhauser and Lalonde were co-authors on the paper published Oct. 27 in Nature.
To arrange an interview with Konhauser please contact Brian Murphy
Science relies on concrete evidence with tests that can be duplicated by critics.
Bananas have appeal.
Thanks a bunch for that.
Okay, You have proven you have no idea what a theory is and how science works, good show. Poor creationists, not scientists or experts, but pretend to be. Yeah, those 100,000+ peer reviewed paper published since 1973 supporting the theory of evolution, compared to 0 from all of the creation ‘scientists’ young earth creationists, old earth creationists, and IDers put together.... I’ll wait here while you to start refuting them, and expose this big 150 year old conspiracy. Hope you don’t mind if I don’t hold my breath.
> Science relies on concrete evidence
All I saw in that article was conjecture about what the evidence means.
The origin of life is not repeatable, neither is the emergence of a bat from a shrew.
And imagine the irony of the announcement that, after millions of man-hours of investigation and experimentation, by thousands of scientists in laboratories all over the world, using billions of dollars worth of the latest state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, a primitive life form has been created, proving once and for all, no intelligence is necessary to create life.
Yep. Evolutionist slugs will just graze somewhere else and hope for continued funding.
I’ve been plaintain puns all over FR all night.
Same exact argument that was made about Climate Change. I used to believe in evolution but just didn’t have the faith to believe in rocks. After 150 yrs you would think somebody would find one transtitionary fossil?
Pray for the Election
Initially there is theorized to be one continent named Pangea:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangaea
Sea floor spreading began about 175 million years ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafloor_spreading
I think you meant "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz", JD ;~)
Understood, and that was my point. So where would we go to find OLDER ocean sediment, say, 750 million years old? Maybe I'm missing something here.
OK, I see what you are asking. 750 million puts you in the Precambrian, where you do still find basins with sediment that formed on Pangea. One I am a little familiar with is the Belt group of sediments in Idaho and Montana. For a description of them you can start reading here if you want:
http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module2/mod2.htm
Well OK, big ((DUH)) on my part. Going back to the article it mentions their working with “banded iron” formations(high and dry ROCKS) that were seafloor a long time ago in an ocean far far away — or something... ;^)
This isn’t the type of stuff anyone really needs to worry about, unless you are looking for mineral deposits! Here is some info on banded iron formations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_iron_formation
I tried to find out which banded iron formation the authors studied, but the article is a pay per view and all I found was an abstract here that doesn’t say:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7319/full/nature09485.html
But, I was looking at the web site of one of the authors and I think they were studying samples of the Dales Gorge banded iron formation in Australia, from which they mine a lot of iron ore. If you go to this page and read the section he has on banded iron, he has some references on the Dales Gorge:
http://faculty.eas.ualberta.ca/konhauser/#Geology%282002%29
There is a link to an article on this page that has a description of the Dales Gorge banded iron formation:
Pecoits, E., Gingras, M.K., Kappler, A., Posth, N.R., Barley, M.A., and Konhauser, K.O., 2009. Petrography and trace element geochemistry of Dales Gorge banded iron formation: Paragenetic sequence, source and implications for palaeo-ocean chemistry. Precambrian Research, 172:163-187.
http://faculty.eas.ualberta.ca/konhauser/PrecambrianResearch%282009%29.pdf
This isnt the type of stuff anyone really needs to worry about, unless you are looking for mineral deposits!
That right there is the crux. After following some of your links and others I've come to the unscientific conclusion that this much ado about nothing.
Well, while you don't hold your breath, you might try to speculate where exactly the glaciers obtained all the phosphorus that eventually washed into the oceans. Was it miracled into them?
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