STARDUST II - Spatial and Temporal Assessment
of high Resolution Depth profiles Using novel Sampling Technologies The fate of pollutants in fluvial and marine sediments in cross-border zones
Dynamic interplay of biogeochemical C, S and Ba cycles in response to the Shuram oxygenation event
Cui, H.; Kaufman, A.J.; Xiao, S.; Zhou, C.; Zhu, M.; Cao, M.; Loyd, S.; Crockford, P.; Liu, X.-M.; Goderis, S.; Wang, W.; Guan, C. (2022). Dynamic interplay of biogeochemical C, S and Ba cycles in response to the Shuram oxygenation event. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 179(2): jgs2021-081. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-081
In: Journal of the Geological Society of London. Published for the Geological Society of London by Scottish Academic Press: London. ISSN 0016-7649; e-ISSN 2041-479X
Compared with Phanerozoic strata, sulfate minerals are relatively rare in the Precambrian record; this is probably due to the lower concentrations of sulfate in dominantly anoxic oceans. Here, we present a compilation of sulfate minerals that are stratigraphically associated with the Ediacaran Shuram excursion (SE) – the largest negative d13C excursion in Earth history. We evaluated 15 SE sections, all of which reveal the presence of sulfate minerals and/or enriched carbonate-associated sulfate concentrations, suggesting a rise in the sulfate reservoir. Notably, where data are available, the SE also reveals considerable enrichments in [Ba] relative to pre- and post-SE intervals. We propose that elevated seawater sulfate concentrations during the SE may have facilitated authigenesis of sulfate minerals. At the same time, the rise in Ba concentrations in shelf environments further facilitated barite deposition. A larger sulfate reservoir would stimulate microbial sulfate reduction and anaerobic oxidation of organic matter (including methane), contributing to the genesis of the SE. The existence of sulfate minerals throughout the SE suggests that oxidant pools were not depleted at that time, which challenges previous modelling results. Our study highlights the dynamic interplay of biogeochemical C, S and Ba cycles in response to the Shuram oxygenation event.
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STARDUST II is a project funded by the INTERREG III A programme (France/Walloon Region/Flanders
French-Flemish subprogramme) of the European Community's Regional Development Fund.
Hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
