Pasteur point
The Pasteur point is a level of oxygen (about 0.3% by volume which is less than 1% of Present Atmospheric Level or PAL) above which facultative aerobic microorganisms and
aerobic respiration.[1] It is also used to mark the level of oxygen in the early atmosphere of the Earth that is believed to have led to major evolutionary changes. It is named after Louis Pasteur, the French microbiologist who studied anaerobic microbial fermentation, and is related to the Pasteur effect.[2]
It was once supposed that about 400 million years ago, in the
It is now well documented that oxygen level reached at least 10% of the present value 2.4 billion years ago (for details see
Great Oxygenation Event
).
See also
- Pasteur effect – Inhibiting effect of oxygen on the fermentation process
- L'Atalante basin – Anoxic hypersaline brine basin at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea
References
- S2CID 40991988.
- S2CID 21984448.
- PMC 219811.
- .
- ^ Berkner, L. V. & Marshall, L. C. (1965). Oxygen and evolution. New Scientist, 28, 415-9.
- ISBN 978-0-87933-009-5, retrieved 2022-10-07
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