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There was an event commonly known as the "oxygen crisis" which occurred around 2.4 billion years ago.

One theory suggests that this was caused due to the production of oxygen by micro organisms. In the early Earth this oxygen normally reacted with minerals in the surface rocks during weathering (creating very thick beds of oxidised rocks such as banded iron formations). However a point was reached where no more minerals were available to react with the oxygen and so it began to accumulate in the atmosphere.

The increase in oxygen proved catastrophic for a large proportion of life at the time leading to the mass extinction event described earlier.

For further information and to see some of the other theories as to the cause of the rapid increases in atmospheric oxygen concentration, please see the related link.

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15y ago

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