Clay as major contributor to oxygen

Martin Kennedy, a US professor of sedimentary geology and geochemistry, concludes in one of his studies that clay made animal life possible on Earth. "A sudden increase in oxygen in the Earth's recent geological history, widely considered necessary for the expansion of animal life, occurred just as the rate of clay formation on the Earth's surface also increased."

This study shows that the initial soils covering the terrestrial surface of Earth had a decisive influence. "The production of clay minerals increased and provided the critical geochemical processes necessary to oxygenate the atmosphere and support multi-cellular animal life," said professor Kennedy.

Researchers found evidence of an increase in clay mineral deposition in the oceans during a 200 million year period about one billion years ago - a time known as the late Precambrian. This was the period oxygen suddenly increased in the Earth's atmosphere. "Organic matter preservation results in an equal portion of oxygen released to the atmosphere through the chemical reaction of photosynthesis." Thus an increase in the burial of organic carbon till 600.000 years ago, made it possible for more oxygen to escape into the atmosphere. "One of the things we least understand is why animals evolved so late in Earth history", Kennedy said.

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