An international team of researchers studied a Russian drilling core containing shungite & nbsp; – a unique carbon-rich sedimentary rock deposited 2 billion years ago. This material gave some clues about & nbsp; the concentration of oxygen on the & nbsp; surface of the Earth, and & nbsp; also pointed to & nbsp; high levels of molybdenum, uranium and & nbsp; rhenium.
“These trace minerals are believed to only occur in & nbsp; Earth’s oceans and & nbsp; sediments when oxygen is & nbsp; abundant,” & nbsp; explained Kaarel Mend, lead author of the study. “These concentrations of trace metals are unmatched in the & nbsp; early history of the Earth, which indicates & nbsp; increased oxygen levels at & nbsp; the time when shungite was formed.”
The discovered fact negates the theories of theorists about the anoxic early history of the Earth, and their theory that oxygen is a product of plant activity. In reality, free oxygen arises from water during its dissipation in the upper atmosphere under the influence of solar radiation and the loss of hydrogen into space.