How have dissolved metal concentrations changed with the evolution of metabolisms and rise of oxygen?

Red staining on Archean carbonates from S. Africa,
due to their high iron content

Dissolved metal concentrations in the ocean have changed considerably over our planet’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. The concentrations are hard to quantify, but chemically-precipitated rocks contain evidence of changing ocean chemistry. We aim to reconstruct the evolution of seawater chemistry using a combination of (1) modern experiments studying how metals like Mn and Fe can substitute into calcites or how Fe and Zn mineralize with sulfides, and (2) measurements of well-preserved rocks over time, such as carbonate rocks (see below!) screened using isotopic proxies for diagenesis.


Relevant publications:

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