Marine arsenate evolution during Proterozoic oxygenation events and implications for biological phosphate metabolism
Abstract
Earth’s atmosphere and oceans experienced two major episodes of ocean-atmosphere oxygenation that transformed the planet and shaped the evolution of the oxygen-rich biosphere between 2.45 and 0.541 billion years ago (Ga). These changes increased the abundance of oxidized chemicals in seawater, but their distribution and effects on the availability and utilization of essential nutrients remain poorly understood. Here we show that these oxygenation events were accompanied by stepwise increases in marine arsenate content—a toxic compound that closely resembles phosphate and interferes with its biological use. Arsenate concentrations rose during the first global oxygenation event and again after the end of the Sturtian global glaciation. Our results suggest that seawater contained much higher arsenate relative to phosphate than today for much of early Earth’s history, likely restricting biological access to phosphate. After the Sturtian glaciation, increasing phosphate availability lowered the arsenate-to-phosphate ratio, reducing arsenate toxicity and enabling more efficient phosphate use in shallow coastal seas, thereby supporting the expansion of oxygen-dependent life.
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BibTeX
@article{fru2026marine,
title = {{Marine arsenate evolution during Proterozoic oxygenation events and implications for biological phosphate metabolism}},
author = {Ernest Chi Fru and Andrea Somogyi and Abderrazak El Albani and Kadda Medjoubi and Jérémie Aubineau and Christopher Rensing},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-03976-0},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03976-0},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Marine arsenate evolution during Proterozoic oxygenation events and implications for biological phosphate metabolism
AU - Ernest Chi Fru
AU - Andrea Somogyi
AU - Abderrazak El Albani
AU - Kadda Medjoubi
AU - Jérémie Aubineau
AU - Christopher Rensing
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-03976-0
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03976-0
AB - Earth’s atmosphere and oceans experienced two major episodes of ocean-atmosphere oxygenation that transformed the planet and shaped the evolution of the oxygen-rich biosphere between 2.45 and 0.541 billion years ago (Ga). These changes increased the abundance of oxidized chemicals in seawater, but their distribution and effects on the availability and utilization of essential nutrients remain poorly understood. Here we show that these oxygenation events were accompanied by stepwise increases in marine arsenate content—a toxic compound that closely resembles phosphate and interferes with its biological use. Arsenate concentrations rose during the first global oxygenation event and again after the end of the Sturtian global glaciation. Our results suggest that seawater contained much higher arsenate relative to phosphate than today for much of early Earth’s history, likely restricting biological access to phosphate. After the Sturtian glaciation, increasing phosphate availability lowered the arsenate-to-phosphate ratio, reducing arsenate toxicity and enabling more efficient phosphate use in shallow coastal seas, thereby supporting the expansion of oxygen-dependent life.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -