Triple oxygen isotopes of cherts : implications for the δ18O and temperatures of early oceans

The temperature of Earth’s earliest oceans, in which life may have first originated, remains a controversial issue in Earth science. Over the last 50 years, many studies have attempted to apply the temperature dependent fractionation of oxygen isotopes 18O/16O to ancient marine chemical sediments in...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

The temperature of Earth’s earliest oceans, in which life may have first originated, remains a controversial issue in Earth science. Over the last 50 years, many studies have attempted to apply the temperature dependent fractionation of oxygen isotopes 18O/16O to ancient marine chemical sediments in order to infer the temperatures of the ancient oceans. The δ18O composition of marine chemical sediments progressively decrease with increasing age leading to the suggestions that either the Precambrian oceans were also strongly depleted in 18O (~-13‰) but had the same temperature as modern day,... Ausführliche Beschreibung