Buffer gas Buffer gas A buffer gas is an inert or nonflammable gas. In the Earth's atmosphere, nitrogen acts as a buffer gas. A buffer gas adds pressure to a system and controls the speed of combustion with any oxygen present. Any inert gas such as helium, neon, or argon will serve as a buffer gas. Buffer gases are commonly used in many applications from high pressure discharge lamps to reduce line width of microwave transitions in alkali atoms. A buffer gas usually consists of atomically inert gases such as helium, argon, and nitrogen which are the primary gases used. Krypton, neon,
Reducing atmosphere had a reducing atmosphere, along with Mars and Venus. This would have proven to be a good environment for "Cyanobacteria" to evolve the first photosynthetic metabolic pathways which gradually increased the oxygen portion of the atmosphere, changing it to what is known as an oxidizing atmosphere. With increased levels of oxygen, the evolution of the more efficient aerobic respiration might have been enabled, allowing animal life to evolve and thrive. Though most scientists conceive of the early atmosphere as reducing, a 2011 article in "Nature" found that cerium oxidation in zircon—which comprises the oldest rocks on Earth at roughly 4.4