3 ms·

Yep, I've read somewhere that an enormous amount of oxygen came from rocks, and the Himalayas in particular.

• pfdietz 5y ago
  What? That's not what I said at all. Erosion of mountains should itself be an O2 sink, not a source (although subsequent burial of organic matter as the eroded material reaches the ocean, and fertilization of plankton in the ocean by the material, could be an O2 source).
  • emmelaich 5y ago
    Sorry if I misunderstood, but you wrote > Oxygen leaks out when rocks are eroded and weathered.. which is what I reinforced. ?
    • pfdietz 5y ago
      It leaks out of the atmosphere. It is pumped back into the atmosphere by photosynthesis + burial of organic material. Perhaps not the best metaphor.
      • emmelaich 5y ago
        I was mistaken. It's a sink for CO2. See the work of Ruddiman and Raymo.