The Riddle of Atmospheric Oxygen: Photosynthesis or Photolysis?статья
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Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 27 октября 2021 г.
Аннотация:Abstract—The stoichiometry of the photosynthetic reaction requires that the quantities of the end products(organic biomaterial and free oxygen) be equal. However, the correct balance of the amounts of oxygen andorganic matter that could have been produced by green plants on the land and in the ocean since the emergence of unique oxygenic photosynthetic systems (no more than 2.7 billion years ago) is virtually impossible, since the vast majority of oxygen was lost in oxidizing the initially reducing matter of the planet, andthe bulk of organic carbon is scattered in sedimentary rocks. In recent decades, convincing information hasbeen obtained in favor of the large-scale photolysis of water molecules in the upper atmosphere with thescattering of light hydrogen into space and the retention of heavier oxygen by gravity. This process has beenoperating continuously since the formation of the Earth. It is accompanied by huge losses of water and theoxidation of salts of ferrous iron and sulfide sulfur in the oceans and methane in the atmosphere. The mainstages of the evolution of the atmosphere and surface layers of the Earth’s crust are analyzed for the firsttime in this work by considering the parallel processes of photosynthesis and photolysis. Large-scale photolysis of water also provides consistent explanations for the main stages in the evolution of the nearestplanets of our Solar System.