Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Geologists Confirm Oxygen Levels of Ancient Oceans

Monday, June 9, 2014, By Rob Enslin
Share
College of Arts and SciencesResearch and Creative

Geologists in the College of Arts and Sciences have discovered a new way to study oxygen levels in the Earth’s oldest oceans.

Zunli Lu

Zunli Lu

Zunli Lu and Xiaoli Zhou, an assistant professor and Ph.D. student, respectively, in the Department of Earth Sciences, are part of an international team of researchers whose findings have been published by the journal Geology (Geological Society of America, 2014). Their research approach may have important implications for the study of marine ecology and global warming.

“More than 2.5 billion years ago, there was little to no oxygen in the oceans, as methane shrouded the Earth in a haze,” says Lu, a member of Syracuse University’s Low-Temperature Geochemistry Research Group. “Organisms practicing photosynthesis eventually started to overpower reducing chemical compounds [i.e., electron donors], and oxygen began building up in the atmosphere. This period has been called the Great Oxidation Event.”

Using a novel approach called iodine geochemistry, Lu, Zhou and their colleagues have confirmed the earliest appearance of dissolved oxygen in the ocean’s surface waters.

Central to their approach is iodate, a form of iodine that exists only in oxygenated waters. When iodate is detected in carbonate rocks in a marine setting, Lu and company are able to measure the elemental ratio of iodine to calcium. This measurement, known as a proxy for ocean chemistry, helps them figure out how much oxygen has dissolved in the water.

Earth's landscape, as it may have looked more than 2.5 billion years ago. (From a painting by Peter Sawyer, The Smithsonian Institute)

Earth’s landscape, as it may have looked more than 2.5 billion years ago. (From a painting by Peter Sawyer, The Smithsonian Institute)

“Iodine geochemistry enables us to constrain oxygen levels in oceans that have produced calcium carbonate minerals and fossils,” says Lu, who developed the proxy. “What we’ve found in ancient rock reinforces the proxy’s reliability. Already, we’re using the proxy to better understand the consequences of ocean deoxygenation, due to rapid global warming.”

In addition to Lu and Zhou, the article was co-authored by Dalton S. Hardistry, a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside; Noah J. Planavsky, assistant professor of geology and geophysics at Yale University; Andrey Bekker, assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Manitoba (Canada); Pascal Philippot, professor of physics at the University of Denis Diderot in Paris (France); and Timothy W. Lyons, professor of biogeochemistry at UC Riverside.

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Chancellor Kent Syverud Honored as Distinguished Citizen of the Year at 57th Annual ScoutPower Event
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By News Staff
  • New Maymester Program Allows Student-Athletes to Develop ‘Democracy Playbook’
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • From Policy to Practice: How AI is Shaping the Future of Education
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Christopher Munoz
  • Kohn, Wiklund, Wilmoth Named Distinguished Professors
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Major League Soccer’s Meteoric Rise: From Underdog to Global Contender
    Wednesday, May 7, 2025, By Keith Kobland

More In STEM

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

Graduating Research Quartet Synthesizes Long-Lasting Friendships Through Chemistry

When Jesse Buck ’25, Isabella Chavez Miranda ’25, Lucy Olcott ’25 and Morgan Opp ’25 started as student researchers in medicinal chemist Robert Doyle’s lab, they hoped to hone their research skills. It quickly became evident this would be unlike…

Biologist Reveals New Insights Into Fish’s Unique Attachment Mechanism

On a wave-battered rock in the Northern Pacific Ocean, a fish called the sculpin grips the surface firmly to maintain stability in its harsh environment. Unlike sea urchins, which use their glue-secreting tube feet to adhere to their surroundings, sculpins…

Distinguished ECS Professor Pramod K. Varshney Establishes Endowed Faculty Fellowship

Distinguished Professor Pramod K. Varshney has exemplified Orange excellence since joining the University as a 23-year-old faculty member. A world-renowned researcher and educator, he’s been recognized for his seminal contributions to information fusion and related fields, introducing new, innovative courses…

Earth Day Spotlight: The Science Behind Heat Pumps (Video)

Peter Wirth has a two-fold strategy when it comes to renovating his home. The Brooklyn, New York, native has called Central New York home for more than 40 years. Nestled on a quiet cul-de-sac in Fayetteville, New York, the 1960s-era…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.