An international team of scientists, led by Yanhao Lin and Hu-Kuang Mao from the Center for Advanced Studies in High Pressure Science and Technology, discovered that magma can store far more oxygen than previously thought.
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According to the National Science Review, scientists conducted a series of experiments to simulate the conditions of the Earth's interior. They heated artificial basalt rocks from mid-ocean ridges to temperatures between 1200 and 1800 degrees Celsius and subjected them to pressures of up to 7 gigapascals. This pressure is equivalent to approximately 69,000 times the atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface. To create an oxygen-rich environment, they added platinum oxide to the samples.
It turned out that at normal atmospheric pressure, the glass produced by cooling the molten rock contained almost no excess oxygen. However, at a pressure of 7 gigapascals, its proportion exceeded 5 percent of the sample's mass. Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the oxygen had become incorporated into the structure of the material rather than remaining as bubbles. Computer modeling using deep neural networks showed that as the pressure increased, the magma's ability to retain excess oxygen also increased.
Researchers believe that ancient volcanic eruptions may have transported this gas from the Earth's interior to its surface. Around 2.5 to 2.0 billion years ago, the oxygen level in the atmosphere increased, coinciding with the formation of vast igneous rock regions. According to calculations, if the magma during that period had released an excess of oxygen equivalent to just 0.27 percent of its weight, this would theoretically have been enough to equal the current oxygen level in the atmosphere. This doesn't prove the volcanic origin of the air, but it does indicate the magnitude of its potential impact.
According to experts, this discovery could change models of the evolution of magma oceans and the emission of volcanic gases, and help in studying the conditions necessary for life on other rocky planets.
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