Life and the Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere

@article{Kasting2002LifeAT,
  title={Life and the Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere},
  author={James F. Kasting and Janet L. Siefert},
  journal={Science},
  year={2002},
  volume={296},
  pages={1066 - 1068}
}
Harvesting light to produce energy and oxygen (photosynthesis) is the signature of all land plants. This ability was co-opted from a precocious and ancient form of life known as cyanobacteria. Today these bacteria, as well as microscopic algae, supply oxygen to the atmosphere and churn out fixed nitrogen in Earth's vast oceans. Microorganisms may also have played a major role in atmosphere evolution before the rise of oxygen. Under the more dim light of a young sun cooler than today's, certain… 
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396 Citations
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396 Citations

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  • Environmental Science
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  • 2019
Nitrogen fixation and photosynthetic oxygen evolution in cyanobacteria.
The rise of continents¿An essay on the geologic consequences of photosynthesis
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  • Environmental Science, Biology
    International Journal of Astrobiology
  • 2005
TLDR
It is hypothesized that biospheric oxygenation would not have occurred if the emergence of cyanobacteria had not been preceded by the evolution of nitrogen fixation, and if these organisms had not also acquired the ability to fix nitrogen at the beginning of or very early in their history.
Oxidative Stress in Tropical Marine Ecosystems
T he accumulation of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere has had profound effects on the geochemistry, physiology, and evolution of life on the planet. However, most organisms must also contend with the…
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An ancestral reaction center of Photosystem I and II (RCI/II) type of photosynthesis arose in which a membrane-spanning helix (MSH) protein bound two molecules of chlorophyll/bacteriochlorophyll in a special pair and had a Chl/quinone primary acceptor.
The rise of oxygen and the hydrogen hourglass
The Global Oxygen Cycle
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