The team analyzed amber samples from almost all well-known amber deposits worldwide. This amber originates from the Cretaceous period, an inclusion of foilage of the extinct conifer tree Parataxodium sp. from the Foremost Formation at Grassy Lake, Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 77 million years old. Picture: Ryan C. McKellar
An international team of researchers led by Ralf Tappert, University of Innsbruck, reconstructed the composition of the Earth's atmosphere of the last 220 million years by analyzing modern and fossil plant resins. The results suggest that atmospheric oxygen was considerably lower in the Earth's geological past than previously assumed. Photo: The team analyzed amber samples from almost all well-known amber deposits worldwide. This amber originates from the Cretaceous period, an inclusion of foilage of the extinct conifer tree Parataxodium sp. from the Foremost Formation at Grassy Lake, Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 77 million years old. Picture: Ryan C. McKellar - Scientists encounter big challenges when reconstructing atmospheric compositions in the Earth's geological past because of the lack of useable sample material.
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