Pyrite Mega-analysis Reveals Modes of Anoxia Through Geological Time

Overview

Journal Sci Adv

Specialties Biology
Science

Date 2022 Mar 16

PMID 35294245

Authors

Joseph F Emmings

Simon W Poulton

Joanna Walsh

Kathryn A Leeming

Ian Ross

Shanan E Peters

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The redox structure of the water column in anoxic basins through geological time remains poorly resolved despite its importance to biological evolution/extinction and biogeochemical cycling. Here, we provide a temporal record of bottom and pore water redox conditions by analyzing the temporal distribution and chemistry of sedimentary pyrite. We combine machine-reading techniques, applied over a large library of published literature, with statistical analysis of element concentrations in databases of sedimentary pyrite and bulk sedimentary rocks to generate a scaled analysis spanning the majority of Earth's history. This analysis delineates the prevalent anoxic basin states from the Archaean to present day, which are associated with diagnostic combinations of five types of syngenetic pyrite. The underlying driver(s) for the pyrite types are unresolved but plausibly includes the ambient seawater inventory, precipitation kinetics, and the (co)location of organic matter degradation coupled to sulfate reduction, iron (oxyhydr)oxide dissolution, and pyrite precipitation.

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