Abstract
The oxidative deposition of iron in the Banded iron-Formations can be quantitatively accounted for by direct abiotic photo-oxidation, by extrapolating from laboratory conditions and making reasonable assumptions about the early Earth and its oceans. Within this model, iron supply was the limiting factor, the Precambrian ocean surfaces were iron-depleted, and hydrogen would have been released into the atmosphere at a rate controlled by Fe(II) mixing. Other mechanisms operating in parallel are not excluded, and the Fe(II) budget suggests that recirculation by reaction with reduced carbon was important by ca. 2.5 b.y.b.p.
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Preliminary report, Braterman and Cairns-Smith, 1986; see also Braterman and Cairns-Smith, in press.
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Braterman, P.S., Cairns-Smith, A.G. Photoprecipitation and the banded iron-formations — Some quantitative aspects. Origins Life Evol Biosphere 17, 221–228 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02386463
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02386463