https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131080007.htm ScienceDaily --------------------------------------------------------------------- Your source for the latest research news Follow Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Subscribe RSS Feeds Newsletters New: * Willful Control of 'Feel Good' Brain Messenger * Potential Role of 'Junk DNA' in Aging, Cancer * How Newborn Mammals Dream Their World * Anatomy of Mars Unveiled * Cockatoos Learn Through Social Interaction * Scientists Reverse Memory Loss in Mice * 15,000-Year-Old Viruses in Tibetan Glacier Ice * Toward Low-Cost Clean Hydrogen * Millimeter-Tall 'Mountains' On Neutron Stars * Climate Change: More Intense Storms Across ... advertisement Follow all of ScienceDaily's latest research news and top science headlines! Science News from research organizations --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 A rusty green early ocean? Date: January 31, 2017 Source: Weizmann Institute of Science Summary: How were Earth's solid deposits of iron ore created? One researchers suggests that, billions of years ago, "green rust" formed in seawater and sank to the ocean bed, becoming an original source of banded iron formations. While this would have been just one means of iron deposition, green rust seems to have delivered a large proportion of iron to our early ocean. Share: FULL STORY --------------------------------------------------------------------- Though they may seem rock solid, the ancient sedimentary rocks called iron formations -- the world's chief economic source of iron ore -- were once dissolved in seawater. How did that iron go from a dissolved state to banded iron formations? Dr. Itay Halevy and his group in the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences suggest that, billions of years ago, the "rust" that formed in the seawater and sank to the ocean bed was green -- an iron-based mineral that is rare on Earth today but might once have been relatively common. Their findings were published in Nature Geoscience. advertisement --------------------------------------------------------------------- We know there was dissolved iron in the early oceans -- a strong indication that Earth's free oxygen concentrations were exceedingly low. Otherwise, the iron would have reacted with oxygen to form iron oxides, which are the rusty red deposits familiar to anyone who's left a bike out in the rain. Today, says Dr. Halevy, iron is delivered from the land to the oceans as small insoluble oxide particles in rivers. But this mode of sedimentation only came about as free oxygen accumulated in Earth's atmosphere, about 2.5 billion years ago. With almost no oxygen, the oceans were iron-rich, but that did not mean that iron remained dissolved in seawater indefinitely: it ultimately formed insoluble compounds with other elements and settled to the seabed to give rise to banded iron formations. The idea that one of those insoluble compounds could be a rusty green mineral occurred to him during his doctoral research, says Dr. Halevy, when he was trying to recreate the conditions on early Mars, including its rusty-red iron sediments. "I got some green stuff I didn't recognize at first, which quickly turned orange when I exposed it to air. With a little more careful experimentation, I found that this was a mineral called green rust, which is extremely rare on Earth today, owing to its affinity for oxygen." Today, green rust quickly transforms into the familiar red rust, but with not much free oxygen around, Dr. Halevy reasoned, it could have been an important way for dissolved iron to form solid compounds and settle to the sea floor. Support for these ideas comes from Sulawesi, Indonesia, where green rust forms today in iron-rich, oxygen-poor Lake Matano, thought to be similar to the seawater that existed during extended periods of Earth's early history. To test his ideas in detail and explore their significance, Dr. Halevy set up experiments in which he and his team recreated, as closely as possible, the conditions of the ancient, oxygen-free, Precambrian ocean. They found that green rust not only forms under these conditions, but that when left to age, it transforms into the minerals found in Precambrian iron formations -- a combination of iron-bearing oxides, carbonates, and silicates. Could green rust have been a main vehicle for settling iron out of seawater? Dr. Halevy and his team developed models to depict the iron cycle in Earth's early oceans, including the possibility of green rust formation and competition with other mineral shuttles of iron to the seafloor. Their findings suggest that green rust was probably a major player in the iron cycle. The iron in the green rust later transformed into the minerals we can now observe in the geologic record. "Of course, it would have been one of several means of iron deposition, just as a number of different processes are involved in chemical sedimentation in the oceans today," says Dr. Halevy. "But as far as we can tell, green rust should have delivered a substantial proportion of iron to the very early ocean sediments." make a difference: sponsored opportunity --------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Source: Materials provided by Weizmann Institute of Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Journal Reference: 1. I. Halevy, M. Alesker, E. M. Schuster, R. Popovitz-Biro, Y. Feldman. A key role for green rust in the Precambrian oceans and the genesis of iron formations. Nature Geoscience, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2878 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cite This Page: * MLA * APA * Chicago Weizmann Institute of Science. "A rusty green early ocean?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 January 2017. . Weizmann Institute of Science. (2017, January 31). A rusty green early ocean?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 25, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131080007.htm Weizmann Institute of Science. "A rusty green early ocean?." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131080007.htm (accessed July 25, 2021). * RELATED TOPICS + Earth & Climate o Earth Science o Sustainability o Environmental Issues o Geology + Fossils & Ruins o Early Climate o Origin of Life o Fossils o Anthropology advertisement --------------------------------------------------------------------- * RELATED TERMS + Iron Age + Mesopotamia + Structure of the Earth + Sea water + River + Tide pool + Earth + Ocean 1 2 3 4 5 RELATED STORIES --------------------------------------------------------------------- How Ancient Microbes Created Massive Ore Deposits, Set Stage for Early Life Dec. 2, 2019 Ancestors of modern bacteria cultured from an iron-rich lake in Democratic Republic of Congo could have been key to keeping Earth's dimly lit early climate warm, and in forming the world's largest ... Study Confirms Banded Iron Formations Originated from Oxidized Iron June 6, 2019 A new study shows that banded iron formations originated from oxidized iron, confirming the relevance and accuracy of existing models -- a finding of great importance to the geological ... Lavas in the Lab Could Lead Miners to New Iron Ore Deposits Apr. 12, 2018 Geologists have discovered that some magmas split into two separate liquids, one of which is very rich in iron. Their findings can help to discover new iron ore deposits for ... Iron Deficiency Restrains Marine Microbes May 19, 2017 Iron is a critical nutrient in the ocean. Its importance for algae and the nitrogen cycle has already been investigated in detail. Now a new discovery shows that microbes also need iron to process ... FROM AROUND THE WEB --------------------------------------------------------------------- ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated. Print Email Share --------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 Most Popular this week --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANTS & ANIMALS (c) (c) Leonid Ikan / Adobe15,000-Year-Old Viruses Discovered in Tibetan Glacier Ice No Sex Please, We're Female Sharks (c) (c) Oxana / AdobeOur Genes Shape Our Gut Bacteria, New Research Shows EARTH & CLIMATE 100-Year-Old Mystery Solved: Adult Eel Observed for the First Time in the Sargasso Sea How Managing Building Energy Demand Can Aid the Clean Energy Transition Newly Introduced Butterfly Could Become Widespread in Canada FOSSILS & RUINS Boy or Girl? It's in the Father's Genes Blue-Eyed Humans Have a Single, Common Ancestor (c) (c) ginettigino / Adobe'Dragon Man' Fossil May Replace Neanderthals as Our Closest Relative advertisement --------------------------------------------------------------------- Strange & Offbeat --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANTS & ANIMALS Why Four-Legged Animals Are Better Sprinters (c) (c) tilialucida / AdobeEyes Wide Shut: How Newborn Mammals Dream the World They're Entering (c) (c) Ken / AdobeClever Cockatoos Learn Through Social Interaction, Study Finds EARTH & CLIMATE Unravelling the Knotty Problem of the Sun's Activity Fully Booked at the Bottom of the Sea: There Seems No Room for New Bacteria on Sand Grains Fish Friends Help in a Crisis FOSSILS & RUINS Newly-Hatched Pterosaurs May Have Been Able to Fly Why Weren't New World Rabbits Domesticated? (c) (c) Leonid Ikan / Adobe15,000-Year-Old Viruses Discovered in Tibetan Glacier Ice Toggle navigation Menu SD * SD + Home Page + + Top Science News + + Latest News * Home + Home Page + + Top Science News + + Latest News * Health + View all the latest top news in the health sciences, or browse the topics below: Health & Medicine o Allergy o Alternative Medicine o Birth Control o Cancer o Diabetes o Diseases o Heart Disease o HIV and AIDS o Obesity o Stem Cells o ... more topics Mind & Brain o ADD and ADHD o Addiction o Alzheimer's o Autism o Depression o Headaches o Intelligence o Psychology o Relationships o Schizophrenia o ... more topics Living Well o Parenting o Pregnancy o Sexual Health o Skin Care o Men's Health o Women's Health o Nutrition o Diet and Weight Loss o Fitness o Healthy Aging o ... more topics * Tech + View all the latest top news in the physical sciences & technology, or browse the topics below: Matter & Energy o Aviation o Chemistry o Electronics o Fossil Fuels o Nanotechnology o Physics o Quantum Physics o Solar Energy o Technology o Wind Energy o ... more topics Space & Time o Astronomy o Black Holes o Dark Matter o Extrasolar Planets o Mars o Moon o Solar System o Space Telescopes o Stars o Sun o ... more topics Computers & Math o Artificial Intelligence o Communications o Computer Science o Hacking o Mathematics o Quantum Computers o Robotics o Software o Video Games o Virtual Reality o ... more topics * Enviro + View all the latest top news in the environmental sciences, or browse the topics below: Plants & Animals o Agriculture and Food o Animals o Biology o Biotechnology o Endangered Animals o Extinction o Genetically Modified o Microbes and More o New Species o Zoology o ... more topics Earth & Climate o Climate o Earthquakes o Environment o Geography o Geology o Global Warming o Hurricanes o Ozone Holes o Pollution o Weather o ... more topics Fossils & Ruins o Ancient Civilizations o Anthropology o Archaeology o Dinosaurs o Early Humans o Early Mammals o Evolution o Lost Treasures o Origin of Life o Paleontology o ... more topics * Society + View all the latest top news in the social sciences & education, or browse the topics below: Science & Society o Arts & Culture o Consumerism o Economics o Political Science o Privacy Issues o Public Health o Racial Disparity o Religion o Sports o World Development o ... more topics Business & Industry o Biotechnology & Bioengineering o Computers & Internet o Energy & Resources o Engineering o Medical Technology o Pharmaceuticals o Transportation o ... more topics Education & Learning o Animal Learning & Intelligence o Creativity o Educational Psychology o Educational Technology o Infant & Preschool Learning o Learning Disorders o STEM Education o ... more topics * Quirky + Top News + + Human Quirks + Odd Creatures + Bizarre Things + Weird World Keyword:[ ]Search Free Subscriptions --------------------------------------------------------------------- Get the latest science news with ScienceDaily's free email newsletters, updated daily and weekly. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader: * Email Newsletters * RSS Feeds Follow Us --------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep up to date with the latest news from ScienceDaily via social networks: * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn Have Feedback? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tell us what you think of ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Have any problems using the site? Questions? * Leave Feedback * Contact Us About This Site | Staff | Reviews | Contribute | Advertise | Privacy Policy | Editorial Policy | Terms of Use Copyright 2021 ScienceDaily or by other parties, where indicated. All rights controlled by their respective owners. Content on this website is for information only. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily, its staff, its contributors, or its partners. Financial support for ScienceDaily comes from advertisements and referral programs, where indicated. CCPA: Do Not Sell My Information GDPR: Privacy Settings