Oceanic Oxygen in Deep Time: Have We Been Looking in the Wrong Places? Dissolved marine oxygen supports animal life and controls the distribution of redox-sensitive critical metals. Yet the evolution

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Oceanic Oxygen in Deep Time: Have We Been Looking in the Wrong Places? Dissolved marine oxygen supports animal life and controls the distribution of redox-sensitive critical metals. Yet the evolution of oceanic dissolved oxygen, when complex cells evolved and links to major critical metal deposits are poorly known—largely because existing studies are from rocks formed in the same Baltic-like sea 1.5 billion years ago (as revealed by new plate-tectonic reconstructions). We will address this by studying ancient rocks that formed in different oceans (rocks now in WA & India). Geochemistry, geochronology and biogeochemical modelling are used to build paleogeographic maps of ocean redox to benefit Australia by understanding the conditions that led to the proliferation of complex cells and critical metal deposits.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 3703 - Geochemistry. Lead: Prof Alan Collins