T he Proterozoic Eon, spanning from 2,500 million to 539 million years ago, marked a transformative chapter in Earth's history.Often overshadowed by the more data-rich Phanerozoic Eon, this period ...

During the Proterozoic era, oxygen produced by photosynthesizing bacteria collects in the oceans and then in the atmosphere. Iron present in exposed rocks reacts with this oxygen, and rust colors ...

That oxygen initially wiped out stromatolites' competition, enabling their prominence in the Archean and early Proterozoic environment. However, as more life forms adapted their metabolism to an ...