Ancient atmospheric oxygen found in iron ore deposits

How do some of geology's most mysterious iron ore deposits form?

This question has preoccupied the geosciences for more than a century.

An international research team led by Dr.

Stefan Peters from the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) has discovered that major iron ore deposits contain traces of oxygen inherited from Earth's ancient atmosphere.

The study, now published in Nature Communications, shows that oxygenation of the atmosphere by photosynthesis played a crucial role in the formation of these deposits. ...