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All episodes/Episode 4.2

Episode 4.2 · 30 min

How Earth Got Oxygen

Why oxygen accumulated long after oxygen-producing photosynthesis began, and how the Great Oxidation Event transformed the atmosphere, oceans, climate, and life.

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Visual credits

17 sources

Sources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.

Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

  1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03393-7 ↗
  2. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/20034 ↗
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  8. https://faculty.washington.edu/dcatling/Catling2012_Ch13_TreatiseGeochem_Revised_wFigs.pdf ↗
  9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.09.017 ↗
  10. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16493-1 ↗
  11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40770997/ ↗
  12. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825217302258 ↗
  13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8724090/ ↗
  14. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5577183/ ↗
  15. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301926824001360 ↗
  16. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11295007/ ↗
  17. https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-iron-ore.pdf ↗
  18. https://www.ga.gov.au/aimr2025/world-rankings ↗
  19. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1183582/ ↗
  20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7043912/ ↗
  21. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp1853 ↗
  22. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/33527 ↗
  23. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8728182/ ↗
  24. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5148108/ ↗
  25. https://www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org/article2207/ ↗
  26. https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/22/483/2026/ ↗
  27. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12799107/ ↗
  28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64194-4 ↗
  29. https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/7eq76-7tm51 ↗
  30. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banded_Iron_Formation_of_Hamersley_Range_DSCN2938.jpg ↗
  31. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaspilite_banded_iron_formation_(BIF)_(Hamersely_Group,_Neoarchean_to_Paleoproterozoic,_~2.47-2.55_Ga;_Hamersley_Range,_Western_Australia)_(15036345446).jpg ↗
  32. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaspilite_banded_iron_formation,_Soudan_Underground_State_Park.jpg ↗
  33. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clast-rich_mixtite_(Coleman_Member,_Gowganda_Formation,_Paleoproterozoic,_~2.3_Ga;_Percival_Lake_roadcut,_Ontario,_Canada)_25_(32783990477).jpg ↗
  34. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dropstones_in_argillite_(Coleman_Member,_Gowganda_Formation,_Paleoproterozoic,_~2.3_Ga;_Straight_Lake_West_roadcut,_north_of_Temagami,_Ontario,_Canada)_2_(40849289653).jpg ↗
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/mining-for-iron-at-mount-whaleback-147416/ ↗
  36. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karijini_National_Park,_Pilbara_Region,_Western_Australia,_Kalmina_Gorge_01.jpg ↗
  37. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40354523/ ↗
  38. https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/items/fc50996a-7df8-425a-8a16-296a7b665d78 ↗
  39. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/27430/Anbar_2023_SA_Technical_comment_CC.pdf?sequence=1 ↗
  40. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11486082/ ↗
  41. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07858 ↗
  42. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0492-6 ↗
  43. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23286-7 ↗
  44. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001136 ↗
  45. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01560-9 ↗
  46. https://www.usgs.gov/publications/extraterrestrial-demise-banded-iron-formations-185-billion-years-ago ↗
  47. https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/statistics-digest-reveals-western-australias-strong-resources-sector-amid-market-challenges ↗
  48. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faulted_clast_in_tillite_(Coleman_Member,_Gowganda_Formation,_Paleoproterozoic,_~2.3_Ga;_Straight_Lake_West_roadcut,_north_of_Temagami,_Ontario,_Canada)_3_(47026270824).jpg ↗
  49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2zXLswH02s ↗
  50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRoiK8hOWX4 ↗
  51. https://zenodo.org/records/3665619/files/Gumsley%20et%20al.%20%282017%29%20-%20Timing%20and%20tempo%20of%20the%20Great%20Oxidation%20Event.pdf ↗
  52. https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/10137626/1/Kurucz%20et%20al%202021%20accepted.pdf ↗
  53. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825224003611 ↗
  54. https://hal.science/hal-05412336v1/file/ramsayEtAl2025.pdf ↗
  55. https://bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/3/589/files/2025/04/Davin_et_al_2025.pdf ↗
  56. https://pages.uoregon.edu/slouca/LoucaLab/SECTION_Publications/MODULE_Publications/Files/Husain2026Molecular.pdf ↗
  57. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4572369/ ↗
  58. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41385-018-0010-y ↗
  59. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-031621-071250 ↗
  60. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2519431122 ↗
  61. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1900325116 ↗
  62. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6717284/ ↗
  63. https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2024/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/22191 ↗
  64. https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.11675 ↗
  65. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20240009601/downloads/2023GISSPubsfinal_complete.pdf?attachment=true ↗
  66. https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/19/1201/2023/ ↗
  67. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/9980/Claire_2016_Astrobiol_PaleOrangeDot_CC.pdf?sequence=1 ↗
  68. https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1425 ↗
  69. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420 ↗
  70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.04.018 ↗
  71. https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/22/483/2026/cp-22-483-2026.html ↗
  72. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2aDr1TJ8D4 ↗
  73. https://link.springer.com/article/10.12942/lrsp-2007-3 ↗

Music

  • Meditation From The Star Orion
    OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements
Footage and image usage

Credits and usage times retained from the published edition or its production credit record. Where present, times identify visual appearances, not documentary chapters. Source and licence corrections are listed in the visual credits above.

  • NASA - 12:20-12:26, whaleback ast 2020198 image
  • AZ Geological Survey @AZGeology - 10:01-10:13, This is a slab of banded iron formation (BIF) from the; source: Original source ↗
  • Eawag - 24:29-24:34, csm teaser 0bb379b038 image
  • Geomartin - 10:28-10:34, Folded Dales Gorge Frm
  • Gumsley et al. - 15:33-15:49, Gumsley%20et%20al.%%282017%% %20Timing%20and%20tempo%20of%20the%20Great%20Oxidation%20Event image; 15:49-15:59, Gumsley%20et%20al.%%282017%% %20Timing%20and%20tempo%20of%20the%20Great%20Oxidation%20Event image
  • Gypsy Denise - 7:50-7:59, Karijini National Park, Pilbara Region, Western
  • James St. John - 7:59-8:04, Jaspilite banded iron formation (BIF) (Hamersely Group; 18:19-18:31, Clast-rich mixtite (Coleman Member, Gowganda Formation; 18:31-18:36, Dropstones in argillite (Coleman Member, Gowganda
  • Mixkit - 13:16-13:25, Red hot metal sheets going out of the furnace; 21:16-21:20, Portrait of a man breathing while doing yoga; 21:44-21:50, Smoke coming out of charcoal; 21:50-21:56, Red hot coal and flames; sources: Original source ↗ Original source ↗ Original source ↗ Original source ↗
  • NIH - 25:46-25:57, image
  • Offenbacher - 24:23-24:29, Lago Cadagno See Val Piora
  • USGS - 7:46-7:50, Banded Iron Formation of Hamersley Range DSCN2938; 8:04-8:24, Banded Iron Formation of Hamersley Range DSCN2938
  • Custom animations and figures: From Cosmos to Civilization. Third-party material incorporated into animations is credited on the linked sources page.

How this film was made

Created and editorially directed by Anders Lunde using a custom production system developed over six months. AI assists research, drafting, programming, and visual production; I review and edit the material and make the final editorial decisions. Narration uses text-to-speech. Visuals combine custom-built scientific animations, AI-generated reconstructions, and credited scientific imagery.

Generated reconstructions illustrate scientific interpretations. They are distinct from photographs, specimens, and measured data.

More about the creator and production →