Creating an Atmosphere

Volcanoes are the natural vents through which the solid Earth interacts with the atmosphere and oceans. Rocks and geothermal fluids are among the products produced by volcanic activity but it is the process of degassing that takes place at volcanoes that is most important in the formation and evolution of Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

The Earth orders itself by the density of its constituents with the densest at the core and the lightest forming the crust. Gases emitted from the intermediate mantle - such as water, carbon dioxide and hydrogen - created the first atmosphere billions of years ago. Water, in the form of steam, condensed quickly and became the Earth's oceans by around 4 billion years ago.

By 2 billion years ago, as plants evolved and photosynthesized, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere reached levels comparable to today's. However, degassing of the mantle via volcanoes continues non-stop albeit at a rate much lower than in Earth's early turbulent period.

We have much to understand about rates of degassing and how the process could change the environment that sustains us. Among the intended contributions of our research are new insights into the history of our atmosphere and projections of what we might expect of it in the future.