What other reasons are there to believe that abiogenesis preventing oxygen was in the Archean atmosphere?
1 Answer
The original atmosphere most likely came from inside the earth via volcanos.
Explanation:
Volcanos release water carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Water vapor will dissociate into Oxygen and Hydrogen gases due to the impact of ultra violet rays. It is reasonable to assume from this that the earliest atmosphere had significant amounts of Oxygen.
Oxygen prevents that formation of DNA and RNA necessary for the reproduction of genetic information.
Red rock strata indicating an Oxygen rich atmosphere occur in rocks thought to be older than 2 billion years old. This is the age where abiogenesis would have had to take place. (Canadian Journal of Earth Science 197 Environment of Archean Early Proterzoic Earth the Earth's Earliest Biosphere 1983)that Oxygen was present in the earliest atmosphere.
There is biochemical evidence that the earliest organisms had developed enzyemic protection from Oxygen. ( Evolution of energetic metabolism the respiration early hypothesis Trends in Biological Sciences 1995)
There are likely other reasons for believing that the early atmosphere had Oxygen. The main reason for believing that the early atmosphere lacked oxygen is the belief that abiogenesis occurred
