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Ions in the solar wind or magnetosphere can charge exchange with molecules in the upper atmosphere. A fast-moving ion can capture the electron from a slow atmospheric neutral, creating a fast neutral and a slow ion. The slow ion is trapped on the magnetic field lines, but the fast neutral can escape. [5]
Oxygen is the most abundant element in Earth's crust, and the third-most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen and helium. At standard temperature and pressure , two oxygen atoms will bind covalently to form dioxygen , a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the chemical formula O
Associated with solar flares is a release of high-energy protons. These particles can hit the Earth within 15 minutes to 2 hours of the solar flare. The protons spiral around and down the magnetic field lines of the Earth and penetrate into the atmosphere near the magnetic poles increasing the ionization of the D and E layers.
The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of oxygen atoms between different oxidation states in ions, oxides, and molecules through redox reactions within and between the spheres/reservoirs of the planet Earth. [1] The word oxygen in the literature typically refers to the most common oxygen allotrope, elemental/diatomic oxygen (O 2), as it ...
The Earth's plasma fountain, showing oxygen, helium, and hydrogen ions which gush into space from regions near the Earth's poles. The faint yellow area shown above the north pole represents gas lost from Earth into space; the green area is the aurora borealis—or plasma energy pouring back into the atmosphere.
There are several known allotropes of oxygen. The most familiar is molecular oxygen (O 2), present at significant levels in Earth's atmosphere and also known as dioxygen or triplet oxygen. Another is the highly reactive ozone (O 3). Others are: Atomic oxygen (O 1), a free radical. Singlet oxygen (O * 2), one of two metastable states of ...
Oxygen in Earth's air is 99.759% 16 O, 0.037% 17 O and 0.204% 18 O. [13] Water molecules with a lighter isotope are slightly more likely to evaporate and less likely to fall as precipitation, [14] so Earth's freshwater and polar ice have slightly less (0.1981%) 18 O than air (0.204%) or seawater (0.1995%).
The increase in oxygen concentrations had wide ranging and significant impacts on Earth's biosphere. Most significantly, the rise of oxygen and the oxidative depletion of greenhouse gases (especially atmospheric methane) due to the GOE led to an icehouse Earth that caused a mass extinction of anaerobic microbes, but paved the way for the ...