UCL Discovery Stage
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery Stage

Evidence for high-frequency oxygenation of Ediacaran shelf seafloor during early evolution of complex life

Jiao, Liangxuan; She, Zhenbing; Papineau, Dominic; Zhang, Chao; Algeo, Thomas J; Dodd, Matthew S; Luo, Genming; ... Li, Chao; + view all (2023) Evidence for high-frequency oxygenation of Ediacaran shelf seafloor during early evolution of complex life. Communications Earth & Environment , 4 , Article 429. 10.1038/s43247-023-01080-1. Green open access

[thumbnail of Papineau_s43247-023-01080-1.pdf]
Preview
Text
Papineau_s43247-023-01080-1.pdf

Download (9MB) | Preview

Abstract

Increasing oxygenation of the early Ediacaran Ocean is thought to have been responsible for the emergence of early animals. Although geochemical studies have suggested periods of oceanic oxygenation in the Ediacaran, direct evidence for seafloor oxygenation has been lacking. Here, we report frequent occurrences of distinctive, sub-millimetric, and early diagenetic pyrite-marcasite rosettes in phosphorites from the lower Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (Weng’an, South China). They typically consist of a nucleus of framboidal pyrite, a cortex of radiating marcasite blades intergrown with quartz, and a rim of second-generation pyrite, recording partial oxidative dissolution of pyrite and co-precipitation of marcasite and quartz. This inference is further supported by near-zero carbon isotope values of the host dolostone, similarly low sulfur isotope values for pyrite and marcasite, and evident Fe-isotope fractionation between marcasite and pyrite. Collectively, our findings reveal intermittent bottom-water and porewater oxygenation events, providing direct evidence of high-frequency oxygenation of Ediacaran continental shelves.

Type: Article
Title: Evidence for high-frequency oxygenation of Ediacaran shelf seafloor during early evolution of complex life
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-023-01080-1
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01080-1
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10181505
Downloads since deposit
324Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item