The temperature of the oceans billions of years ago is not hotter than today

Some geologists believe that ancient ocean temperatures were extremely hot (at least 70 degrees Celsius), while some thought it was close to today's heat (about 15 degrees Celsius).

Contrary to popular assumptions, August 19, Israeli researchers said they had demonstrated that water temperatures in the oceans billions of years ago were not hotter than those of modern times.

Some geologists believe that ancient ocean temperatures were extremely hot (at least 70 degrees Celsius), while some thought it was close to today's heat (about 15 degrees Celsius).

Both streams are based on changes in the isotopic composition of oxygen in the precipitated minerals outside the sea (such as carbonate minerals found in limestone), but lead to other conclusions. together.

Scientists have shown that the water temperature in the oceans billions of years ago is not hotter than that of modern times.(Artwork: GETTY IMAGES / TTXVN)

Scientists have difficulty determining whether the trend of this isotope component depends on the cold seawater phenomenon or the true local isotope composition.

The research team of the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) conducted a determination of oxygen isotope ratios depending on the temperature between iron oxides and aqueous solutions, and then built a database of oxygen isotopes in iron oxides under the sea. 2 billion years ago.

To find out, the researchers turned to studying small sediment particles (Ooid) containing ancient iron oxide layers.

To measure the ratio of oxygen isotopes in iron oxide samples, the researchers created a database of isotopic components in the form of different small sediment particles.

Small sediment particles are collected from dozens of locations on Earth, representing many different geological periods, of which the oldest is about 2 billion years ago.

The results show that the geological trend as observed is due to the change of oxygen isotope composition in the water, not the cold seawater phenomenon.

According to the researchers, this finding could lead to clues about everything from primitive living conditions of primitive plants and animals to the geological history of the ocean.

The database is considered a 'time ship' that can be used to help scientists analyze seawater chemistry from time immemorial as well as changes to the ocean ever since.

Previously, some studies have shown that the ocean was once very hot about 3 billion years ago and gradually cooled to 30 degrees C 800 million years ago.

This colder phenomenon is favorable for living organisms to begin to multiply, flourish in the oceans. The higher the temperature, the less dissolved oxygen is in water. Meanwhile, complex multicellular organisms need oxygen to grow.