Abstract
The Ediacaran Period (635–539 Ma) witnessed the largest negative excursion in inorganic carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) over the Earth’s geological history, also known as the Shuram Excursion (SE) event. The occurrence of the SE has been widely attributed to an increase in atmospheric-oceanic oxygen levels and the subsequent oxidation of organic matters in Earth’s surface system. However, the oxygen levels in the Ediacaran ocean during the SE remain poorly constrained, limiting our ability to better understand the cause and mechanisms behind the SE. Recently, the ratio of I/(Ca+Mg) in carbonate has emerged as an effective proxy for quantifying dissolved oxygen ([O2]) in the local surface seawaters. In this study, we analyzed I/(Ca+Mg) ratios in the Shuiquan Formation at the Mochia-Khutuk (MK) section, which records the SE event in the Tarim continent. The I/(Ca+Mg) ratio shows synchronous variation with δ13Ccarb in the MK section, with the average value decreasing from 2.2 µmol/mol at the bottom of the section to 0.8 µmol/mol in the middle and then increasing to 3.4 µmol/mol at the very top along with the decline and recovery of δ13Ccarb. According to the relationship between I/(Ca+Mg) and oxygen content in minimum oxygen zones of the modern ocean, we infer that [O2] of surface water in the MK section decreased from >20–70 µmol/L to <20–70 µmol/L during the SE, which may reflect the upwelling of the deep seawater enriched dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and reduced substance (such as Fe2+) together with its subsequent consumption of [O2] in the surface ocean. The I/(Ca+Mg) pattern in the MK section is significantly different from those of other contemporaneous SE records on other continents, indicating the surface [O2] in the Ediacaran ocean could have been temporally and spatially heterogeneous. Local factors, such as latitude, temperature, productivity, and input of anoxic water masses could play important roles in regulating the surface ocean redox conditions. This observation further suggests that the atmospheric oxygen level during the Ediacaran was relatively low and insufficient to dominate the regulation of [O2] in the surface ocean. The results of our study imply that the oxidation of the ocean and in turn the DOC reservoir therein during the SE could be spatially restricted to the continental shelf, rather than the whole ocean.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Boag T H, Darroch S A F, Laflamme M. 2016. Ediacaran distributions in space and time: Testing assemblage concepts of earliest macroscopic body fossils. Paleobiology, 42: 574–594
Bristow T F, Kennedy M J. 2008. Carbon isotope excursions and the oxidant budget of the Ediacaran atmosphere and ocean. Geology, 36: 863–866
Busch J F, Hodgin E B, Ahm A S C, Husson J M, Macdonald F A, Bergmann K D, Higgins J A, Strauss J V. 2022. Global and local drivers of the Ediacaran Shuram carbon isotope excursion. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 579: 117368
Canfield D E. 2005. The early history of atmospheric oxygen: Homage to Robert M. Garrels. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci, 33: 1–36
Canfield D E, Poulton S W, Knoll A H, Narbonne G M, Ross G, Goldberg T, Strauss H. 2008. Ferruginous conditions dominated later Neoproterozoic deep-water chemistry. Science, 321: 949–952
Canfield D E, Poulton S W, Narbonne G M. 2007. Late-Neoproterozoic deep-ocean oxygenation and the rise ofanimal life. Science, 315: 92–95
Chang B, Li C, Algeo T J, Lyons T W, Shi W, Cheng M, Luo G, She Z, Xie S, Tong J, Zhu M, Huang J, Foster I, Tripati A. 2022. A ~60-Ma-long, high-resolution record of Ediacaran paleotemperature. Sci Bull, 67: 910–913
Chang B, Li C, Liu D, Foster I, Tripati A, Lloyd M K, Maradiaga I, Luo G, An Z, She Z, Xie S, Tong J, Huang J, Algeo T J, Lyons T W, Immenhauser A. 2020. Massive formation of early diagenetic dolomite in the Ediacaran ocean: Constraints on the “dolomite problem”. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 117: 14005–14014
Chen X, Zhou Y, Shields G A. 2022. Progress towards an improved Precambrian seawater 87Sr/86Sr curve. Earth-Sci Rev, 224: 103869
Chen Z, Zhou C M, Yuan X L, Xiao S H. 2019. Death march of a segmented and trilobate bilaterian elucidates early animal evolution. Nature, 573: 412–415
Cheng M, Wang H Y, Li C, Luo G M, Huang J H, She Z B, Lei L D, Ouyang G, Zhang Z H, Dodd M S, Algeo T J. 2022. Barite in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation and its implications for marine carbon cycling during the largest negative carbon isotope excursion in Earth’s history. Precambrian Res, 368: 106485
Cheng M, Zhang Z H, Algeo T J, Liu S L, Liu X D, Wang H Y, Chang B, Jin C S, Pan W, Cao M C, Li C. 2021. Hydrological controls on marine chemistry in the Cryogenian Nanhua Basin (South China). Earth-Sci Rev, 218: 103678
Cui H, Kaufman A J, Xiao S H, Zhou C M, Zhu M Y, Cao M C, Loyd S, Crockford P, Liu X M, Goderis S, Wang W, Guan C G. 2022. Dynamic interplay of biogeochemical C, S and Ba cycles in response to the Shuram oxygenation event. J Geol Soc, 179, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-081
Derry L A. 2010. A burial diagenesis origin for the Ediacaran Shuram-Wonoka carbon isotope anomaly. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 294: 152–162
Ding W, Nie T, Peng Y B, Sun Y L, Xue J Z, Shen B. 2021. Validating the deep time carbonate carbon isotope records: Effect of benthic flux on seafloor carbonate. Acta Geochim, 40: 271–286
Fan H, Nielsen S G, Owens J D, Auro M, Shu Y, Hardisty D S, Horner T J, Bowman C N, Young S A, Wen H. 2020. Constraining oceanic oxygenation during the Shuram Excursion in South China using thallium isotopes. Geobiology, 18: 348–365
Fang H, Tang D J, Shi X Y, Zhou L M, Zhou X Q, Wu M T, Song H Y, Riding R. 2022. Early Mesoproterozoic Ca-carbonate precipitates record fluctuations in shallow marine oxygenation. Precambrian Res, 373: 106630
Farquhar J, Bao H, Thiemens M. 2000. Atmospheric influence of Earth’s earliest sulfur cycle. Science, 289: 756–758
Fike D A, Grotzinger J P, Pratt L M, Summons R E. 2006. Oxidation of the Ediacaran ocean. Nature, 444: 744–747
Gilly W F, Beman J M, Litvin S Y, Robison B H. 2013. Oceanographic and biological effects of shoaling of the oxygen minimum zone. Annu Rev Mar Sci, 5: 393–420
Gong Z, Li M S. 2020. Astrochronology of the Ediacaran Shuram carbon isotope excursion, Oman. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 547: 116462
Grotzinger J P, Fike D A, Fischer W W. 2011. Enigmatic origin of the largest-known carbon isotope excursion in Earth’s history. Nat Geosci, 4: 285–292
Hardisty D S, Horner T J, Evans N, Moriyasu R, Babbin A R, Wankel S D, Moffett J W, Nielsen S G. 2021. Limited iodate reduction in shipboard seawater incubations from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen deficient zone. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 554: 116676
Hardisty D S, Horner T J, Wankel S D, Blusztajn J, Nielsen S G. 2020. Experimental observations of marine iodide oxidation using a novel sparge-interface MC-ICP-MS technique. Chem Geol, 532: 119360
Hardisty D S, Lu Z L, Bekker A, Diamond C W, Gill B C, Jiang G Q, Kah L C, Knoll A H, Loyd S J, Osburn M R, Planavsky N J, Wang C J, Zhou X L, Lyons T W. 2017. Perspectives on Proterozoic surface ocean redox from iodine contents in ancient and recent carbonate. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 463: 159–170
Huang K Q, Cheng M, Algeo T J, Hu J, Wang H Y, Zhang Z H, Dodd M S, Wu Y C, Guo W, Li C. 2022. Interaction of Shibantan Biota and environment in the terminal Ediacaran ocean: Evidence from I/(Ca+Mg) and sulfur isotopes. Precambrian Res, 379: 106814
Husson J M, Maloof A C, Schoene B, Chen C Y, Higgins J A. 2015. Stratigraphic expression of Earth’s deepest δ13C excursion in the Wonoka Formation of South Australia. Am J Sci, 315: 1–45
Jaffrés J B D, Shields G A, Wallmann K. 2007. The oxygen isotope evolution of seawater: A critical review of a long-standing controversy and an improved geological water cycle model for the past 3.4 billion years. Earth-Sci Rev, 83: 83–122
Jiang G, Kaufman A J, Christie-Blick N, Zhang S, Wu H. 2007. Carbon isotope variability across the Ediacaran Yangtze platform in South China: Implications for a large surface-to-deep ocean δ13C gradient. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 261: 303–320
Jiao N Z, Cai R H, Zheng Q, Tang K, Liu J H, Jiao F L, Wallace D, Chen F, Li C, Amann R, Benner R, Azam F. 2018. Unveiling the enigma of refractory carbon in the ocean. Natl Sci Rev, 5: 459–463
Johnston D T, MacDonald F A, Gill B C, Hoffman P F, Schrag D P. 2012. Uncovering the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle. Nature, 483: 320–323
Kaufman A J, Corsetti F A, Varni M A. 2007. The effect of rising atmospheric oxygen on carbon and sulfur isotope anomalies in the Neoproterozoic Johnnie Formation, Death Valley, USA. Chem Geol, 237: 47–63
Kennedy H A, Elderfield H. 1987. Iodine diagenesis in pelagic deep-sea sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 51: 2489–2504
Knauth L P, Kennedy M J. 2009. The late Precambrian greening of the Earth. Nature, 460: 728–732
Lee C, Love G D, Fischer W W, Grotzinger J P, Halverson G P. 2015. Marine organic matter cycling during the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion. Geology, 43: 1103–1106
Li C, Cheng M, Zhu M Y, Lyons T W. 2018. Heterogeneous and dynamic marine shelf oxygenation and coupled early animal evolution. Emerg Top Life Sci, 2: 279–288
Li C, Hardisty D S, Luo G M, Huang J H, Algeo T J, Cheng M, Shi W, An Z H, Tong J N, Xie S C, Jiao N Z, Lyons T W. 2017. Uncovering the spatial heterogeneity of Ediacaran carbon cycling. Geobiology, 15: 211–224
Li C, Love G D, Lyons T W, Fike D A, Sessions A L, Chu X L. 2010. A stratified redox model for the Ediacaran ocean. Science, 328: 80–83
Li C, Shi W, Cheng M, Jin C S, Algeo T J. 2020. The redox structure of Ediacaran and early Cambrian oceans and its controls. Sci Bull, 65: 2141–2149
Li H Y, Zhang S H, Han J, Zhong T, Ding J K, Wu H C, Liu P J, Dong J, Zhang Z F, Yang T S, Jiang G Q. 2022. Astrochronologic calibration of the Shuram carbon isotope excursion with new data from South China. Glob Planet Change, 209: 103749
Li Z H, Cao M C, Loyd S J, Algeo T J, Zhao H, Wang X D, Zhao L, Chen Z Q. 2020. Transient and stepwise ocean oxygenation during the late Ediacaran Shuram Excursion: Insights from carbonate δ238U of north-western Mexico. Precambrian Res, 344: 105741
Loyd S J, Marenco P J, Hagadorn J W, Lyons T W, Kaufman A J, Sour-Tovar F, Corsetti F A. 2013. Local δ34S variability in ~580 Ma carbonates of northwestern Mexico and the Neoproterozoic marine sulfate reservoir. Precambrian Res, 224: 551–569
Lu W Y, Ridgwell A, Thomas E, Hardisty D S, Luo G M, Algeo T J, Saltzman M R, Gill B C, Shen Y A, Ling H F, Edwards C T, Whalen M T, Zhou X L, Gutchess K M, Jin L, Rickaby R E M, Jenkyns H C, Lyons T W, Lenton T M, Kump L R, Lu Z L. 2018. Late inception ofa resiliently oxygenated upper ocean. Science, 361: 174–177
Lu Z L, Jenkyns H C, Rickaby R E M. 2010. Iodine to calcium ratios in marine carbonate as a paleo-redox proxy during oceanic anoxic events. Geology, 38: 1107–1110
Lu Z L, Lu W Y, Rickaby R E M, Thomas E. 2020. Earth History of Oxygen and the IprOxy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Mángano M G, Buatois L A. 2014. Decoupling of body-plan diversification and ecological structuring during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition: Evolutionary and geobiological feedbacks. Proc R Soc B, 281: 20140038
McFadden K A, Huang J, Chu X L, Jiang G Q, Kaufman A J, Zhou C M, Yuan X L, Xiao S H. 2008. Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 105: 3197–3202
Middag R, de Baar H J W, Bruland K W. 2019. The relationships between dissolved zinc and major nutrients phosphate and silicate along the GEOTRACES GA02 transect in the west Atlantic Ocean. Glob Biogeochem Cycle, 33: 63–84
Mills D B, Ward L M, Jones C A, Sweeten B, Forth M, Treusch A H, Canfield D E. 2014. Oxygen requirements of the earliest animals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 111: 4168–4172
Minguez D, Kodama K P. 2017. Rock magnetic chronostratigraphy of the Shuram carbon isotope excursion: Wonoka Formation, Australia. Geology, 45: 567–570
Osburn M, Grotzinger J, Bergmann K. 2014. Facies, stratigraphy, and evolution of a middle Ediacaran carbonate ramp: Khufai Formation, Sultanate of Oman. AAPG Bull, 98: 1631–1667
Pang K, Wu C X, Sun Y P, Ouyang Q, Yuan X L, Shen B, Lang X G, Wang R, Chen Z, Zhou C M. 2021. New Ediacara-type fossils and late Ediacaran stratigraphy from the northern Qaidam Basin (China): Paleogeographic implications. Geology, 49: 1160–1164
Planavsky N J, Reinhard C T, Wang X L, Thomson D, McGoldrick P, Rainbird R H, Johnson T, Fischer W W, Lyons T W. 2014. Low mid-Proterozoic atmospheric oxygen levels and the delayed rise of animals. Science, 346: 635–638
Reinhard C T, Planavsky N J, Olson S L, Lyons T W, Erwin D H. 2016. Earth’s oxygen cycle and the evolution of animal life. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 113: 8933–8938
Rimstidt J D, Balog A, Webb J. 1998. Distribution of trace elements between carbonate minerals and aqueous solutions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 62: 1851–1863
Romera-Castillo C, Letscher R T, Hansell D A. 2016. New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 113: 10497–10502
Rooney A D, Cantine M D, Bergmann K D, Gómez-Pérez I, Al Baloushi B, Boag T H, Busch J F, Sperling E A, Strauss J V. 2020. Calibrating the coevolution of Ediacaran life and environment. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 117: 16824–16830
Rothman D H, Hayes J M, Summons R E. 2003. Dynamics of the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 100: 8124–8129
Rue E L, Smith G J, Cutter G A, Bruland K W. 1997. The response of trace element redox couples to suboxic conditions in the water column. Deep-Sea Res Part I-Oceanogr Res Pap, 44: 113–134
Ryb U, Eiler J M. 2018. Oxygen isotope composition of the Phanerozoic ocean and a possible solution to the dolomite problem. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 115: 6602–6607
Schrag D P, Higgins J A, Macdonald F A, Johnston D T. 2013. Authigenic carbonate and the history of the global carbon cycle. Science, 339: 540–543
Shang M H, Tang D J, Shi X Y, Zhou L M, Zhou X Q, Song H Y, Jiang G Q. 2019. A pulse ofoxygen increase in the early Mesoproterozoic ocean at ca. 1.57–1.56 Ga. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 527: 115797
Shen B, Xiao S H, Bao H M, Kaufman A J, Zhou C M, Yuan X L. 2011. Carbon, sulfur, and oxygen isotope evidence for a strong depth gradient and oceanic oxidation after the Ediacaran Hankalchough glaciation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 75: 1357–1373
Shen Y, Benner R. 2019. Molecular properties are a primary control on the microbial utilization of dissolved organic matter in the ocean. Limnol Oceanogr, 65: 1061–1071
Shi W, Li C, Algeo T J. 2017. Quantitative model evaluation of organic carbon oxidation hypotheses for the Ediacaran Shuram carbon isotopic excursion. Sci China Earth Sci, 60: 2118–2127
Shi W, Li C, Luo G M, Huang J H, Algeo T J, Jin C S, Zhang Z H, Cheng M. 2018. Sulfur isotope evidence for transient marine-shelf oxidation during the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion. Geology, 46: 267–270
Shi W, Mills B J W, Li C, Poulton S W, Krause A J, He T, Zhou Y, Cheng M, Shields G A. 2022. Decoupled oxygenation of the Ediacaran ocean and atmosphere during the rise of early animals. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 591: 117619
Shields G A, Mills B J W, Zhu M, Raub T D, Daines S J, Lenton T M. 2019. Unique Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions sustained by coupled evaporite dissolution and pyrite burial. Nat Geosci, 12: 823–827
Song H J, Wignall P B, Song H Y, Dai X, Chu D L. 2019. Seawater temperature and dissolved oxygen over the past 500 million years. J Earth Sci, 30: 236–243
Sperling E A, Wolock C J, Morgan A S, Gill B C, Kunzmann M, Halverson G P, MacDonald F A, Knoll A H, Johnston D T. 2015. Statistical analysis of iron geochemical data suggests limited late Proterozoic oxygenation. Nature, 523: 451–454
Stolper D A, Keller C B. 2018. A record of deep-ocean dissolved O2 from the oxidation state of iron in submarine basalts. Nature, 553: 323–327
Swanson-Hysell N L, Rose C V, Calmet C C, Halverson G P, Hurtgen M T, Maloof A C. 2010. Cryogenian glaciation and the onset of carbon-isotope decoupling. Science, 328: 608–611
Truesdale V W, Bailey G W. 2000. Dissolved iodate and total iodine during an extreme hypoxic event in the southern Benguela system. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci, 50: 751–760
Wang R M, Shen B, Lang X G, Wen B, Mitchell R N, Ma H R, Yin Z J, Peng Y B, Liu Y G, Zhou C M. 2023. A great late Ediacaran ice age. Natl Sci Rev, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad117
Wang W, Li C, Dodd M S, Algeo T J, Zhang Z, Cheng M, Hou M. 2023. A DOM regulation model for dolomite versus calcite precipitation in the Ediacaran Ocean: Implications for the “dolomite problem”. Precambrian Res, 385: 106947
Wei H M, Wang X Q, Shi X Y, Jiang G Q, Tang D J, Wang L J, An Z Z. 2019. Iodine content of the carbonates from the Doushantuo Formation and shallow ocean redox change on the Ediacaran Yangtze Platform, South China. Precambrian Res, 322: 160–169
Wei W, Klaebe R, Ling H F, Huang F, Frei R. 2020. Biogeochemical cycle of chromium isotopes at the modern Earth’s surface and its applications as a paleo-environment proxy. Chem Geol, 541: 119570
Wen B, Evans D A D, Li Y X. 2017. Neoproterozoic paleogeography of the Tarim Block: An extended or alternative “missing-link” model for Rodinia? Earth Planet Sci Lett, 458: 92–106
Williams G E, Schmidt P W. 2018. Shuram-Wonoka carbon isotope excursion: Ediacaran revolution in the world ocean’s meridional overturning circulation. Geosci Front, 9: 391–402
Wilson J L. 1975. Carbonate Facies in Geologic History. New York: Springer Science & Business Media
Xiao S H, Bao H M, Wang H F, Kaufman A J, Zhou C M, Li G X, Yuan X L, Ling H F. 2004. The Neoproterozoic Quruqtagh Group in eastern Chinese Tianshan: Evidence for a post-Marinoan glaciation. Precambrian Res, 130: 1–26
Xiao S H, Yuan X L, Steiner M, Knoll A H. 2002. Macroscopic carbonaceous compressions in a terminal Proterozoic shale: A systematic reassessment of the Miaohe biota, south China. J Paleontol, 76: 347–376
Xu B, Xiao S H, Zou H B, Chen Y, Li Z X, Song B, Liu D Y, Zhou C M, Yuan X L. 2009. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age constraints on Neoproterozoic Quruqtagh diamictites in NW China. Precambrian Res, 168: 247–258
Yang C, Rooney A D, Condon D J, Li X H, Grazhdankin D V, Bowyer F T, Hu C L, Macdonald F A, Zhu M Y. 2021. The tempo of Ediacaran evolution. Sci Adv, 7: eabi9643
Zhang F F, Xiao S H, Romaniello S J, Hardisty D, Li C, Melezhik V, Pokrovsky B, Cheng M, Shi W, Lenton T M, Anbar A D. 2019. Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota. Geobiology, 17: 594–610
Zhang X. 2022. Marine refractory dissolved organic carbon and transgressive black shales. Chin Sci Bull, 67: 1607–1613
Zhou C M, Ouyang Q, Wang W, Wan B, Guan C G, Chen Z, Yuan X L. 2021. Lithostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of the Ediacaran in China (in Chinese). J Stratigr, 45: 211–222
Acknowledgements
We thank Professor Bing SHEN from Peking University for providing the samples and Rui-Min WANG for her assistance in obtaining the samples. We also thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFF0800100) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42130208, 41825019, 42072335, 42002027).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Electronic Supplementary Material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Z., Cheng, M., Wang, H. et al. Spatiotemporal variation of dissolved oxygen in the Ediacaran surface ocean and its implication for oceanic carbon cycling. Sci. China Earth Sci. 66, 1892–1905 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1116-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1116-3