Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - Tập 105 Số 9 - Trang 3197-3202 - 2008
Kathleen A. McFadden1, Jing Huang2, Xuelei Chu2, Ganqing Jiang3, Alan J. Kaufman4, Chuanming Zhou5, Xunlai Yuan5, Shuhai Xiao1
1*Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061;
2Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
3Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154;
4Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; and
5State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

Tóm tắt

Recent geochemical data from Oman, Newfoundland, and the western United States suggest that long-term oxidation of Ediacaran oceans resulted in progressive depletion of a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir and potentially triggered the radiation of acanthomorphic acritarchs, algae, macroscopic Ediacara organisms, and, subsequently, motile bilaterian animals. However, the hypothesized coupling between ocean oxidation and evolution is contingent on the reliability of continuous geochemical and paleontological data in individual sections and of intercontinental correlations. Here we report high-resolution geochemical data from the fossil-rich Doushantuo Formation (635–551 Ma) in South China that confirm trends from other broadly equivalent sections and highlight key features that have not been observed in most sections or have received little attention. First, samples from the lower Doushantuo Formation are characterized by remarkably stable δ 13 C org (carbon isotope composition of organic carbon) values but variable δ 34 S CAS (sulfur isotope composition of carbonate-associated sulfate) values, which are consistent with a large isotopically buffered DOC reservoir and relatively low sulfate concentrations. Second, there are three profound negative δ 13 C carb (carbon isotope composition of carbonate) excursions in the Ediacaran Period. The negative δ 13 C carb excursions in the middle and upper Doushantuo Formation record pulsed oxidation of the deep oceanic DOC reservoir. The oxidation events appear to be coupled with eukaryote diversity in the Doushantuo basin. Comparison with other early Ediacaran basins suggests spatial heterogeneity of eukaryote distribution and redox conditions. We hypothesize that the distribution of early Ediacaran eukaryotes likely tracked redox conditions and that only after ≈551 Ma (when Ediacaran oceans were pervasively oxidized) did evolution of oxygen-requiring taxa reach global distribution.

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Thông tin xuất bản

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Tập 105 Số 9

3197-3202

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