Atmospheric and Oceanic Oxygenation and Evolution of Early Life on Earth： New Contributions from China

The buildup of oxygen in the Earth＇s atmosphere and oceans has fundamentally reshaped the dynamics of nearly all major biogeochemical cycles and ultimately paved the way for the diversification of complex life on Earth. Over the past decades there have been sustained efforts to develop a more comprehensive understanding of ocean-atmosphere redox evolution and its relationship to the evolution of early life （Fig. 1）. It is generally accepted that the development of oxygenic photosynthesis at ~2.7 Ga may have been responsible for the Great Oxidation Event （GOE） at the beginning of the Proterozoic Eon, whereas a second big O2 rise at the end of the Proterozoic Eon （the so-called Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event or NOE） was responsible for the diversification of metazoans （Lyons et al., 2014）.