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GSA Special Papers
Earth's Early Atmosphere and Surface Environment
Author(s)
George H. Shaw
George H. Shaw
Geology Department, Union College, Schenectady, New York 12308, USA
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Geological Society of America

Volume
504
Copyright:
© 2014 Geological Society of America
Attribution:You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Noncommercial ‒ you may not use this work for commercial purpose. No Derivative works ‒ You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Sharing ‒ Individual scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further requests to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text in other subsequent works and to make unlimited photocopies of items in this journal for noncommercial use in classrooms to further education and science.
ISBN print:
9780813725048
Publication date:
May 01, 2014
Book Chapter
Evidence and arguments for methane and ammonia in Earth's earliest atmosphere and an organic compound–rich early ocean
Author(s)
George H. Shaw
Geology Department, Union College, Schenectady, New York 12308, USA
George H. Shaw
Search for other works by this author on:
-
Published:May 01, 2014
The preponderance of geologic evidence does not support carbon dioxide as the main carbon species degassed from early Earth, nor a carbon dioxide–rich early atmosphere. In fact, there are several problems that cannot be addressed by assuming either of these facets of what has become conventional wisdom about the early atmosphere. A careful examination of the conditions that most likely accompanied late accretion, incorporating the most probable average composition of accreting materials, suggests an early atmosphere produced by degassing of reduced carbon and nitrogen species, followed by photochemical processing to yield a surface environment rich in organic compounds. Recycling of...
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- accretion
- aliphatic hydrocarbons
- alkanes
- ammonia compound
- Archean
- atmosphere
- carbon dioxide
- degassing
- evaporation
- gases
- geochemistry
- geothermal systems
- Hadean
- hydrocarbons
- magma oceans
- magmatism
- mantle
- Mars
- meteorites
- methane
- organic compounds
- paleoatmosphere
- photochemistry
- photosynthesis
- planets
- Precambrian
- solar nebula
- terrestrial comparison
- terrestrial planets
- volatiles
- world ocean
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