Recently Published Research from the NAI

The following new papers have been published recently by NAI members. These and other recent NAI funded research are presented on the NAI member portal and collected in the NAI Research Highlights Archive – http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/research/. In this archive, you can link to the papers and any press materials that may have been generated about them.

If you have an upcoming or recent publication, please tell us about it as soon as possible. We will work with your institution to produce press releases, publicize the paper on the NAI website, and pre-populate your team’s annual report with your publication. Please send any information to Daniella Scalice [email protected]

Biogeochemistry and Oxygenic Photosynthesis

Researchers from NAI’s University of Colorado, Boulder Team recently reported in Earth and Planetary Science Letters their new biogeochemical model relating to the Great Oxidation Event. With ion microprobe data for individual sulfides from water-lain sedimentary units in the 2.45-2.22 Ga Huronian Supergroup, the team proposes a new model where enhanced weathering rates during interglacial thawing stimulated blooms of oxygenic photosynthesis, the demise of methane, and ultimately the irreversible rise in atmospheric oxygen between the first and second Huronian glaciations. The paper’s lead author was also the recipient of an NAI Research Scholarship in 2004.

Greenhouse Gases on Early Earth Helped Keep It Warm

A team of researchers including members of NAI’s University of Colorado, Boulder Team have provided the first direct field evidence supporting the theory that high concentrations of greenhouse gases could have helped avoid global freezing on the early Earth. They analyzed iron carbonates from 3.75-3.8 billion year old rocks in northern Quebec, and conclude that the atmosphere of early Earth contained high levels of CO2. Their paper appears in a recent issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

[Source: Astrobiology Institute Newsletter]