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Now, new research scouring the globe for geological data suggests oxygen didn't flood the atmosphere and oceans a little over half a billion years ago, so much slowly dissolve into shallow basins and oceanic shelves.
That doesn't mean oxygen played no role in kickstarting the burst of biodiversification that gave rise to all the weird, wacky and wild creatures we see today."We found minor increases in oxygenation" – in sedimentary rocks formed on the bottom of ancient oceans –"that are at the correct magnitude to drive big changes in ecology."
Without enough oxygen, single-celled organisms and other small creatures eking out an existence before the Cambrian explosion wouldn't have been able to grow much bigger and expand their body plans, scientists have reasoned.evidence from different geological sites around the world has led some to question how much oxygen was really needed, and when oxygen levels in many habitats tipped over the critical threshold presumably holding life back.
"From a global perspective, we didn't see the full oxygenation of the oceans to near modern levels until about 400 million years ago, around the time that we see theHowever, oxygen levels in shallow waters stirred up by winds and waves may have increased enough to support the emergence of all sorts of marine life.,"but it might be enough to cross critical ecological thresholds, based on what we see in modern areas with naturally low oxygen.
The team's findings expand on the results of a 2017 study, which found shallow seas became oxygenated first, but atmospheric oxygen didn't reach modern levels
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