Earth: Atmospheric Evolution of a Habitable Planet Stephanie L. Olson1,2*, Edward W. Schwieterman1,2, Christopher T. Reinhard1,3, Timothy W. Lyons1,2 1NASA Astrobiology Institute Alternative Earth’s Team 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside 3School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Georgia Institute of Technology *Correspondence:
[email protected] Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 2. Oxygen and biological innovation .................................................................................... 3 2.1. Oxygenic photosynthesis on the early Earth .......................................................... 4 2.2. The Great Oxidation Event ......................................................................................... 6 2.3. Oxygen during Earth’s middle chapter ..................................................................... 7 2.4. Neoproterozoic oxygen dynamics and the rise of animals .................................. 9 2.5. Continued oxygen evolution in the Phanerozoic.................................................. 11 3. Carbon dioxide, climate regulation, and enduring habitability ................................. 12 3.1. The faint young Sun paradox ................................................................................... 12 3.2. The silicate weathering thermostat ......................................................................... 12 3.3. Geological