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Earth's oceans used to be green, and they could turn purple next
For ages, Earth has been known as a blue planet, a vision largely shaped by the vast oceans that cover three-quarters of its surface. But what if this wasn't always the case, and our oceans used to be green? That's the surprising claim in a new study published in Nature Geology & Evolution.
These iron-rich conditions triggered what we know as the Great Oxidation Event, a time where the world shifted from an anoxic (oxygen-scarce) to an oxygenic environment, around 2.4 billion years ago. The research group, led by Taro Matsuo, utilized advanced simulations and discovered green light dominated the spectrum during the Archean eon, primarily due to a process called iron precipitation. Modern observations around the Japanese volcanic island of Iwo Jima naturally exhibit a green hue, linked with oxidized iron, which also lends support to the team's simulations.
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