An iron rain to starve a planet

I have a generic Earth like planet, same atmospheric composition, and the same oceanic composition. The crust of this planet is predominantly silicon based but plenty of iron, nickel and copper. Life started on this planet too and currently covers the entire surface, both above and below the waves.

My objective is to starve the planet of oxygen by removing 50% or more of the free atmospheric oxygen in less than 10 years. The preferred method for doing this is to drop geologically significant quantities of non-oxidized iron onto this planet for a few years in the form of iron dust. Where I get the iron from and how I deliver it to the planet's upper atmosphere is outside the scope of this question.

Can I realistically and dramatically drop the amount of oxygen by dumping powdered iron into the atmosphere and ocean? I've read that iron does a fantastic job of binding to oxygen so that's my preferred approach.

posted about 6 years ago

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