# Crystals Indicate Early Earth Was a “Sponge” for Oxygen

Source: [Eos](https://eos.org/articles/crystals-indicate-early-earth-was-a-sponge-for-oxygen) · 2026-11-13 · Earth & Climate
Page: https://themorning.science/story/crystals-indicate-early-earth-was-a-sponge-for-oxygen-56387094879844c9
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- According to new research reported by Eos, early Earth acted as a geological sponge for oxygen for more than a billion years.
- This buffering lasted until the Great Oxidation Event, which occurred about 2.3 billion years ago.
- Geologists had long suspected that bacteria produced limited amounts of gaseous oxygen before the event.

## Why it matters

The findings suggest that oxygen levels in early Earth were controlled by geological processes absorbing it, which affects how scientists interpret when and how Earth's atmosphere became oxygen-rich.

## Coverage

- [Crystals Indicate Early Earth Was a “Sponge” for Oxygen](https://eos.org/articles/crystals-indicate-early-earth-was-a-sponge-for-oxygen) — Eos, 2026-11-13

Tags: oxygen, great oxidation event, early earth, geology, atmosphere evolution

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science