Abstract
Diatonic oxygen (O2) and triatomic oxygen (O3, ozone) are very unusual gases to find in a planetary atmosphere.
The evolution of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria was arguably the most significant event in the history of life after the evolution of life itself. Oxygen is a potent oxidant whose accumulation into the atmosphere forever changed the surface chemistry of Earth.
David Canfield
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hay, W.W. (2016). Oxygen and Ozone—Products and Protectors of Life . In: Experimenting on a Small Planet. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27404-1_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27404-1_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27402-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27404-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)