Sulfate Triple-oxygen-isotope Evidence Confirming Oceanic Oxygenation 570 Million Years Ago

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2023 Jul 18

PMID 37463883

Authors

Haiyang Wang

Yongbo Peng

Chao Li

Xiaobin Cao

Meng Cheng

Huiming Bao

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The largest negative inorganic carbon isotope excursion in Earth's history, namely the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion (SE), closely followed by early animal radiation, has been widely interpreted as a consequence of oceanic oxidation. However, the primary nature of the signature, source of oxidants, and tempo of the event remain contested. Here, we show that carbonate-associated sulfate (CAS) from three different paleocontinents all have conspicuous negative O anomalies (Δ'O values down to -0.53‰) during the SE. Furthermore, the Δ'O varies in correlation with its corresponding δS and δO as well as the carbonate δC, decreasing initially followed by a recovery over the ~7-Myr SE duration. In a box-model examination, we argue for a period of sustained water-column ventilation and consequently enhanced sulfur oxidation in the SE ocean. Our findings reveal a direct involvement of mass-anomalously O-depleted atmospheric O in marine sulfate formation and thus a primary global oceanic oxygenation event during the SE.

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