Greenhouse warming by CH4 in the atmosphere of early Earth

Alexander A. Pavlov; James F. Kasting; Lisa L. Brown; Kathy A. Rages; Richard Freedman

doi:10.1029/1999JE001134

Greenhouse warming by CH₄ in the atmosphere of early Earth

Alexander A. Pavlov, James F. Kasting, Lisa L. Brown, Kathy A. Rages, Richard Freedman

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425 Scopus citations

Abstract

Earth appears to have been warm during its early history despite the faintness of the young Sun. Greenhouse warming by gaseous CO₂ and H₂O by itself is in conflict with constraints on atmospheric CO₂ levels derived from paleosols for early Earth. Here we explore whether greenhouse wanning by methane could have been important. We find that a CH₄ mixing ratio of 10^-4 (100 ppmv) or more in Earth's early atmosphere would provide agreement with the paleosol data from 2.8 Ga. Such a CH₄ concentration could have been readily maintained by methanogenic bacteria, which are thought to have been an important component of the biota at that time. Elimination of the methane component of the greenhouse by oxidation of the atmosphere at about 2.3-2.4 Ga could have triggered the Earth's first widespread glaciation.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1999JE001134
Pages (from-to)	11981-11990
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Volume	105
Issue number	E5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JE001134
State	Published - May 25 2000

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Geochemistry and Petrology
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science
Atmospheric Science
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Oceanography

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10.1029/1999JE001134

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title = "Greenhouse warming by CH4 in the atmosphere of early Earth",

abstract = "Earth appears to have been warm during its early history despite the faintness of the young Sun. Greenhouse warming by gaseous CO2 and H2O by itself is in conflict with constraints on atmospheric CO2 levels derived from paleosols for early Earth. Here we explore whether greenhouse wanning by methane could have been important. We find that a CH4 mixing ratio of 10-4 (100 ppmv) or more in Earth's early atmosphere would provide agreement with the paleosol data from 2.8 Ga. Such a CH4 concentration could have been readily maintained by methanogenic bacteria, which are thought to have been an important component of the biota at that time. Elimination of the methane component of the greenhouse by oxidation of the atmosphere at about 2.3-2.4 Ga could have triggered the Earth's first widespread glaciation.",

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AU - Pavlov, Alexander A.

AU - Kasting, James F.

AU - Brown, Lisa L.

AU - Rages, Kathy A.

AU - Freedman, Richard

PY - 2000/5/25

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AB - Earth appears to have been warm during its early history despite the faintness of the young Sun. Greenhouse warming by gaseous CO2 and H2O by itself is in conflict with constraints on atmospheric CO2 levels derived from paleosols for early Earth. Here we explore whether greenhouse wanning by methane could have been important. We find that a CH4 mixing ratio of 10-4 (100 ppmv) or more in Earth's early atmosphere would provide agreement with the paleosol data from 2.8 Ga. Such a CH4 concentration could have been readily maintained by methanogenic bacteria, which are thought to have been an important component of the biota at that time. Elimination of the methane component of the greenhouse by oxidation of the atmosphere at about 2.3-2.4 Ga could have triggered the Earth's first widespread glaciation.

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Greenhouse warming by CH₄ in the atmosphere of early Earth

Abstract

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