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A rock record of H2 production in the ancient Earth

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 1086–1087 (2023)Cite this article

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H2, which is formed by the oxidation of iron in rocks, was likely a critical source of energy for early life. Analysis of natural rock samples from 3.5–2.7 billion-year-old komatiites, combined with geochemical data from a global database, quantifies the amount of H2 likely to have been produced in Earth’s ancient oceans.

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Fig. 1: Analyses of geochemical data from komatiites and komatiitic basalts.

References

  1. Cannat, M. et al. Serpentinization and associated hydrogen and methane fluxes at slow spreading ridges. In Diversity of Hydrothermal Systems on Slow Spreading Ocean Ridges (eds Rona, P. A. et al.) Geophysical Monograph Series https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GM000760 (American Geophysical Union, 2010). An article that summarizes and quantifies rock–water reactions in ultramafic rocks in the modern Earth.

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This is a summary of: Tamblyn, R. & Hermann, J. Geological evidence for high H2 production from komatiites in the Archaean. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/10.1038/s41561-023-01316-x (2023).

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A rock record of H2 production in the ancient Earth. Nat. Geosci. 16, 1086–1087 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01321-0

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