One of the paradoxes of the Archean rock record is how evidence for oxidative continental weathering is plausible when the atmosphere lacked oxygen prior to the Great Oxidation Event ca. 2.5 billion years ago. We detected reactive oxygen species (ROS) production at various silicate-water interfaces in a simulated Archean atmosphere and calculated homolysis rates of silicon–oxygen bonds in these minerals. We find that ROS can be produced while silicates were eroded and transported by streams to depositional basins. The magnitude of ROS production increases from mafic- to felsic-silicates. During early continent formation, e.g., the Kaapvaal and Pilbara basins in the Paleoarchean, the emplacement of granitoids and their subsequent exposure to physical weathering might have annually provided at least 1.73 × 10⁸ mol O₂ before the biological O₂ production. Importantly, this process could have oxidatively mobilized redox-sensitive elements to seawater, increasing the availability of bioessential nutrient elements for the Archean biosphere.

太古宙岩石记录的悖论之一是，当大气在大氧化事件 ca 之前缺氧时，氧化大陆风化的证据是如何合理的。25亿年前。我们在模拟太古宙大气中的各种硅酸盐-水界面检测到活性氧 (ROS) 的产生，并计算了这些矿物中硅氧键的均裂率。我们发现当硅酸盐被侵蚀并被溪流输送到沉积盆地时，可以产生 ROS。ROS 产生的量级从镁铁质到长英质硅酸盐增加。在早期大陆形成期间，例如古太古代的 Kaapvaal 和 Pilbara 盆地，花岗岩的侵位及其随后的物理风化可能每年提供至少 1.73 × 10⁸  mol O ₂在生物O ₂产生之前。重要的是，这一过程可能将对氧化还原敏感的元素氧化转移到海水中，从而增加了太古宙生物圈生物必需营养元素的可用性。