Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of high CO2 levels on surface temperature and atmospheric oxidation state of the early Earth

  • Published:
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One-dimensional radiative-convective and photochemical models are used to examine the effects of enhanced CO2 concentrations on the surface temperature of the early Earth and the composition of the prebiotic atmosphere. Carbon dioxide concentrations of the order of 100–1000 times the present level are required to compensate for an expected solar luminosity decrease of 25–30%, if CO2 and H2O were the only greenhouse gases present. The primitive stratosphere was cold and dry, with a maximum H2O volume mixing ratio of 10−6. The atmospheric oxidation state was controlled by the balance between volcanic emission of reduced gases, photo-stimulated oxidation of dissolved Fe+2 in the oceans, escape of hydrogen to space, and rainout of H2O2 and H2CO. At high CO2 levels, production of hydrogen owing to rainout of H2O2 would have kept the H2 mixing ratio above 2×10−4 and the ground-level O2 mixing ratio below 10−11, even if no other sources of hydrogen were present. Increased solar UV fluxes could have led to small changes in the ground-level mixing ratios of both O2 and H2.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Augustsson, T. and Ramanathan, V., 1977, A radiative-convective model study of the CO2 climate problem,J. Atmos. Sci. 34, 448–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Nun, A. and Chang, S., 1983, Photochemical reactions of carbon monoxide and water in Earth's primitive atmosphere,J. Geophys. Res. 88, 6662–6672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevington, P. R., 1969,Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences, McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borucki, W. J., 1983, Energy dissipation rate of terrestrial lightning, manuscript in preparation.

  • Braterman, P. S., Cairns-Smith, A. G., and Sloper, R. W., 1983, Photooxidation of hydrated Fe+2 — significance for banded iron formations,Nature 303, 163–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch, D. E., Gryvnak, D., Singleton, E. B., France, W. L., and Williams, D., 1962, Infrared Absorption by Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapor, and Minor Atmospheric Constituents, AFCRL-62-698.

  • Canuto, V. M., Levine, J. S., Augustsson, T. R., and Imhoff, C. L., 1982, UV radiation from the young sun and oxygen and ozone levels in the prebiological paleoatmosphere,Nature 296, 816–820.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canuto, V. M., Levine, J. S., Augustsson, T. R., Imhoff, C. L., and Giampapa, M. S., 1983, The young Sun and the atmosphere and photochemistry of the early Earth,Nature 305, 281–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, J. H., 1981, Prebiotic atmospheric oxygen levels,Nature 292, 136–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cess, R. D. and Tiwari, S. N., 1972, Infrared radiative energy transfer in gases,Adv. Heat Transfer 8, 229–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloud, P. E., 1972, A working model of the primitive earth,Amer. J. Science 272, 537–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloud, P. E., 1973, Paleoecological significance of the banded iron formation,Econ. Geol. 68, 1135–1143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G. L., 1980, Nitrogen fixation by lightning,J. Atmos. Sci. 37, 174–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fels, S. B., 1979, Simple strategies for inclusion of Voigt effects in infrared cooling rate calculations,Appl. Opt. 18, 2634–2637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fels, S. B. and Schwarzkopf, M. D., 1980, An efficient, accurate algorithm for calculating CO2 15-μm band cooling rates,J. Geophys. Res. 86, 1205–1232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, J. and Crutzen, P. 1977, A numerical study of tropospheric photochemistry using a one-dimensional model,J. Geophys. Res. 82, 5897–5906.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrels, R. M. and Mackenzie, F. T., 1971,Evolution of Sedimentary Rocks, Norton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrels, R. M. and Perry, E. A., 1974, Cycling of carbon, sulfur, and oxygen through geologic time,The Sea 5, 303–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A. and Kyle, T. G., 1968, A comparison between statistical model and line calculation with application to the 9.6 μm ozone and the 2.7 μm water vapor bands,Appl. Opt. 7, 1167–1177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, D. O., 1981, Solar interior structure and luminosity variations,Solar Phys.,74, 21–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, M. H., 1978, The evolution of the atmosphere of the earth,Icarus 33, 23–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson-Sellers, A., 1979, Clouds and the long-term stability of the earth's atmosphere and climate,Nature 279, 786–788.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, R. D., Rinker, R. G., and Wilson, H. D., 1980, Atmospheric nitrogen fixation by lightning,J. Atmos. Sci. 37, 179–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, W., Birnbaum, G., and Rosenberg, A., 1971, Far-infrared collision induced absorption in CO2. I. Temperature dependence,J. Chem. Phys. 55, 1028–1038.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland, H. D., 1973, The oceans: A possible source of iron in iron formations,Econ. Geol. 68, 1169–1172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. N., Burch, D. L., and William, D., 1956, Near-infrared transmission through synthetic atmospheres,J. Opt. Soc. Am. 46, 186–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hummel, J. R. and Kuhn, W. R., 1981, Comparison of radiative-convective models with constant and pressure dependent lapse rates,Tellus 33, 254–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingersoll, A. P., 1969, The runaway greenhouse: A history of water on Venus,J. Atmos. Sci. 26, 1191–1198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F., 1979, Evolution of oxygen and ozone in the Earth's atmosphere, PhD dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.

  • Kasting, J. F., 1982, Stability of ammonia in the primitive terrestrial atmosphere,J. Geophys. Res. 87, 3091–3098.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F., Liu, S. C., and Donahue, T. M., 1979, Oxygen levels in the prebiological atmosphere,J. Geophys. Res. 84, 3097–3107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F. and Donahue, T. M., 1980, Evolution of atmospheric ozone,J. Geophys. Res.,85, 3255–3263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F. and Walker, J. C. G., 1981, Limits on oxygen concentration in the prebiological atmosphere 3nd the rate of abiotic fixation of nitrogen,J. Geophys. Res. 86, 1147–1158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F., Zahnle, K. J., and Walker, J. C. G., 1983, Photochemistry of methane in the Earth's early atmosphere,Precambrian Res. 20, 121–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasting, J. F., Pollack, J. B., and Ackerman, T. P., 1984, Response of Earth's atmosphere to increases in solar flux and implications for loss of water from Venus,Icarus,57, 335–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, W. R. and Atreya, S. K., 1979, Ammonia photolysis and the greenhouse effect in the pirmordial atmosphere of the earth,Icarus 37, 207–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, W. R. and Kasting, J. F., 1983. The effects of increased CO2 concentrations on surface temperature of the early earth,Nature 301, 53–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindzen, R. S. and Will, D. I., 1973, An analytic formula for heating due to ozone absorption,J. Atmos. Sci. 30, 513–515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindzen, R. S., Hou, A. Y., and Farrell, B. F., 1982, The role of convective model choice in calculating the climate impact of doubling CO2,J. Atmos. Sci. 39, 1189–1205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, J. E. and Watson, A. J., 1982, The regulation of carbon dioxide and climate: Gaia or geochemistry,Planet. Space Sci. 30, 795–802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, J. E. and Whitfield, M., 1982, Life span of the biosphere,Nature 296, 561–563.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malkmus, W., 1967, Random Lorentz band model with exponential-tailed S−1 line intensity distribution function,J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57, 323–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manabe, S. and Wetherald, R. T., 1967, Thermal equilibrium of the atmosphere with a given distribution of relative humidity,J. Atmos. Sci. 24, 241–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mastenbrook, H. J., 1968, Water vapor distribution in the stratosphere and high troposphere,J. Atmos. Sci. 25, 299–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J. F., 1971, Infrared absorption of carbon dioxide at high densities with application to the atmosphere of Venus, Rep. X-630–72–48, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mount, G. H., Rottman, G. J., and Timothy, J. G., 1980, The solar spectral irradiance 1200–2550 Å at solar maximum,J. Geophys. Res. 85, 4271–4274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. J. and Rood, R. T., 1977, Implications of solar evolution for the earth's early atmosphere,Science 198, 1035–1037.

    Google Scholar 

  • North, G. R., 1975, Theory of energy-balance climate models,J. Atmos. Sci. 32, 2033–2043.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, T., Cess, R. D., and Ramanathan, V., 1979, Early Earth: An enhanced carbon dioxide greenhouse to compensate for reduced solar luminosity,Nature 277, 640–642.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, J. P., Gladstone, C. R., and Yung, Y. L., 1980, Photochemical production of formaldehyde in the earth's primitive atmosphere,Science 210, 183–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, J. B., Toon, O. B., and Boese, R., 1980, Greenhouse models of Venus' high surface temperature, as constrained by Pioneer Venus measurements,J. Geophys. Res. 85, 8223–8231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramanathan, V., 1976, Radiative transfer within the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere: A simplified radiative-convective model,J. Atmos. Sci. 33, 1330–1346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, R. E., Selby, J. E. A., and Biberman, L. M., 1976, Infrared continuum absorption by atmospheric water vapor in the 8–12 μm window,Appl. Opt. 15, 2085–2090.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, C. D. and Walshaw, C. D., 1966, The computation of infrared cooling rate in planetary atmospheres,Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc. 92, 67–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossow, W. B., Henderson-Sellers, A., and Weinreich, S. K., 1982, Cloud feed-back: A stabilizing effect for the early earth?,Science 217, 1245–1247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sagan, C. and Mullen, G., 1972, Earth and Mars: Evolution of atmospheres and surface temperatures,Science 177, 52–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schatten, K. H. and Endal, A. S., 1982, The faint young sun-climate paradox: Volcanic influences,Geophys. Res. Lett. 9, 1309–1311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, B. A., Harteck, P., and Reeves, R. R. Jr., 1963, Ultraviolet absorption coefficients of CO2, CO, O2, H2O, N2O, NH3, NO, SO2, and CH4 between 1850 and 4000 Å,J. Geophys. Res. 68, 6431–6436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Towe, K. M., 1981, Environmental conditions surrounding the origin and early Archean evolution of life: A hypothesis,Precambian Res. 16, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veizer, J., Compston, W., Hoefs, J. and Nielson, H., 1982, Mantle buffering of the early oceans,Naturwissenschaften 69, 173–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visconti, G., 1982, Radiative-photochemical models of the primitive terrestrial atmosphere,Planet. Space Sci. 30, 785–793.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. C. G., 1976, Implications for atmospheric evolution of the inhomogeneous accretion model of the origin of the Earth, in B. F.Windley (ed.),The Early History of the Earth, Wiley, New York, pp. 537–546.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, James C. G., 1977,Evolution of the Atmosphere, MacMillan, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. C. G., 1982, Climatic factors on the Archean earth,Pageoph. 40, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. C. G., 1983, Possible limits on the composition of the Archean ocean,Nature 302, 518–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. C. G., P. B.Hays, and J. F.Kasting, 1981, A negative feedback mechanism for the long-term stabilization of Earth's surface temperature,J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9776–9782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, W. C. and P. H.Stone, 1980, Effect of ice-albedo feedback on global sensitivity in a one-dimensional radiative-convective climate model,J. Atmos. Sci. 37, 545–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yung, Y. L., 1976, A numerical method for calculating the mean intensity in an inhomogeneous Rayleigh scattering atmosphere,J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer 16, 755–761.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yung, Y. L. and McElroy, M. B., 1979, Fixation of nitrogen in the prebiotic atmosphere,Science 203, 1002–1004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahnle, K. J. and Walker, J. C. G., 1982, The evolution of solar ultraviolet luminosity,Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 20, 280–292.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, U.S.A.

    James F. Kasting & James B. Pollack

  2. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, P.O. Box 308, 08540, Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.

    David Crisp

Authors
  1. James F. Kasting
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James B. Pollack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Crisp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kasting, J.F., Pollack, J.B. & Crisp, D. Effects of high CO2 levels on surface temperature and atmospheric oxidation state of the early Earth. J Atmos Chem 1, 403–428 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053803

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053803

Key words

Search

Navigation