U-Pb zircon dates from volcanic ash beds within the Doushantuo Formation (China) indicate that its deposition occurred between 635 and 551 million years ago. The base records termination of the global-scale Marinoan glaciation and is coeval with similar dated rocks from Namibia, indicating synchronous deglaciation. Carbon isotopic and sequence-stratigraphic data imply that the spectacular animal fossils of the Doushantuo Formation are for the most part younger than 580 million years old. The uppermost Doushantuo Formation contains a pronounced negative carbonate carbon isotopic excursion, which we interpret as a global event at circa 551 million years ago.

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The role of oxygen as a driver for early animal evolution is widely debated. During the 21 Cambrian explosion, episodic radiations of major animal phyla occurred coincident with 22 repeated carbon isotope fluctuations. However, the driver of these isotope fluctuations and 23 potential links to environmental oxygenation are unclear. Here, we report high-resolution 24 carbon and sulphur isotope data for marine carbonates from the southeastern Siberian 25 Platform that document the canonical explosive phase of the Cambrian radiation from ~524 26 to ~514 Myr ago. These analyses demonstrate a strong positive covariation between 27 carbonate  13 C and carbonate-associated sulphate  34 S through five isotope cycles. 28 Biogeochemical modelling suggests that this isotopic coupling reflects periodic oscillations 29 in atmospheric O2 and the extent of shallow ocean oxygenation. Episodic maxima in the 30 biodiversity of animal phyla directly coincided with these extreme oxygen perturbations. 31 Conversely, the subsequent Botoman Toyonian animal extinction events (~514 to ~512 32Myr ago) coincided with decoupled isotope records that suggest a shrinking marine 33 sulphate reservoir and expanded shallow marine anoxia. We suggest that fluctuations in 34 oxygen availability in the shallow marine realm exerted a primary control on the timing and 35 tempo of biodiversity radiations at a crucial phase in the early history of animal life. 36 37The early Cambrian witnessed a dramatic diversification of animal body plans and 38 behaviours 1 , as well as between-species interactions and palaeocommunity innovations 2,3 , 39 ultimately leading to modern animal ecosystems. Ocean oxygenation is a commonly invoked 40 environmental pre-requisite 4 6 . However, some recent studies suggest that despite probable 41 low-oxygen conditions, the oceans exceeded requisite oxygen thresholds for simple animals, 42 such as sponges, well before the Cambrian Period 7,8 . Many of the new animal body plans and 43 lifestyles that appeared during the early Cambrian were associated with considerably higher 44 oxygen demands 9,10 . Fluctuations in the maximum dissolved oxygen content of surface 45 waters, or the extent of shallow ocean oxygenation, could therefore have played an important 46 role in regulating the pattern of Cambrian radiations. This brings into question the role of 47 55 single, large oxidised oceanic reservoir (dissolved sulphate and inorganic carbon), the isotopic 56 composition of which is governed by isotope fractionation during microbially-mediated 57 reduction to sulphide (ultimately preserved as pyrite) and organic carbon. Burial of these 58 reduced species represents the two main net sources of oxygen to the surface environment 12 59 14 , and also imprints on both the seawater sulphate sulphur isotope ( 34 S, as recorded by 60 carbonate-associated sulphate) and carbon isotope ( 13 C, as recorded in carbonate) records, 61 allowing redox changes in the surface environment to be traced through geologic time.62 63 Here we present...

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