NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The biota as ancient and modern modulator of the earth's atmosphereThe composition of the terrestrial atmosphere is thought to have been markedly modified by surface microbiota and modulated around quantities of gases optimized for growth of these microbiota. Three diagrams illustrating these suppositions are presented. The first shows a probable order of appearance of major metabolic pathways in microbes that interact with sediment and atmosphere. It is based on evolutionary considerations and is devised independently of the fossil record. The second diagram shows the qualitative emissions and removals of atmospheric gases by anaerobic organisms; it approximates those processes thought to have dominated the terrestrial atmosphere in Archean times. The third diagrams gaseous emissions and removals by the major groups of organisms, including oxygen-releasing and -utilizing forms. Biological gas exchange processes thought to have dominated the atmosphere since the Proterozoic are thus represented.
Document ID
19780050673
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Margulis, L.
(Boston University Boston, Mass., United States)
Lovelock, J. E.
(Reading, University Reading, Berks., United Kingdom)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1978
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
78A34582
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-22-004-025
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available