Dramatic attenuation of continental weathering during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition: Implications for the climatic-oceanic-biological co-evolution

Zhang, Gongjing; Chen, Daizhao; Huang, Kangjun; Mu, Lan; Huang, Taiyu; Yeasmin, Rumana; Fu, Yong

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103518

Cited by 20 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…A significant decrease of CIA values (from 89 to 70) has been identified during the transition from Liuchapo Formation to Jiumenchong Formation (Figure 3), this shift implies an unusual decline in chemical weathering during the Early Cambrian. Indeed, the abrupt decrease of chemical weathering was comparable with the lower Jiumenchong Formation of the Daotuo section (Zhai et al, 2018), and was supported by a sharp decrease of magnesium and radiogenic strontium isotope values during the Early Cambrian (Li et al, 2013; Mazumdar & Strauss, 2006; Zhang et al, 2021). On the other hand, a gradual increase in CIA values (from 71 to 89) was observed within the Liuchapo Formation (Figure 3), indicating enhanced chemical weathering during the Ediacaran‐Cambrian transition (Nicholas, 1996; Shields, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Fluctuations of continental chemical weathering control primary productivity and redox conditions during the Earliest Cambrian

Zhao

Zhu

et al. 2023

Geological Journal

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The Ediacaran – Cambrian transition witnessed dramatic changes in the marine environment that are thought to have strongly influenced biological evolution. Previous studies have linked biological innovations to palaeo‐redox changes and suggested that increased productivity is the primary driver of the marine environment. However, the primary productivity and redox control mechanism still need to be clarified. Here, we present new organic carbon isotopes, total organic carbon contents, major elements, and trace and rare earth elements in drill‐core ZK107 from South China to reveal the continental chemical weathering, primary productivity, and redox control mechanism during the Earliest Cambrian (E‐C). Our studies have shown intense continental weathering, and primary productivity fluctuations that were supported by weathering (CIA, Rb/Al) and productivity (Babio, P) indicators. Additionally, the quantitative reconstructed productivity proxies (PP18, PP21, PP23) indicate a high primary productivity level in the E‐C ocean, surpassing that of the modern oceans. The strengthening of continental weathering mainly causes high primary productivity because it can alter the nutrient supply to the oceans. We suggest that changes in primary productivity closely associated with continental weathering are the leading cause of marine anoxia during the E‐C. This study establish a linkage between the land and marine system during the E‐C, confirming the terrestrial controls on the marine chemical changes and providing new insights into understanding the evolution of the Earth's surface changes during the Ediacaran – Cambrian transition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Fluctuations of continental chemical weathering control primary productivity and redox conditions during the Earliest Cambrian

Zhao

Zhu

et al. 2023

Geological Journal

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“…The chemical composition of clastic sedimentary rocks is predominantly regulated by the lithologies of their source, which comprise a distinctive assemblage of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. Trace and rare elements, such as Zirconium (Zr), Thorium (Th), Hafnium (Hf), and Lanthanum (La), remain stable during geological processes like weathering, deposition, and diagenesis (Wang et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2021). Furthermore, these elements exhibit immobility and dissimilar concentrations and/or ratios in various parent rocks (Cullers and Berendsen, 1998).…”

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was not until Cryogenian that eukaryotic marine primary productivity became dominant and consequently, the organic parent materials became diversified (Brocks et al, 2017). In addition, the Mesoproterozoic was characterized by a distinct difference in both the atmosphere, which was low in oxygen (Zhang et al, 2016) and the prevalence of anoxic water bodies, when compared to the Phanerozoic era (Planavsky et al, 2011). On the one hand, the anoxic ocean provides ideal circumstances for organic matter burial, which is comparable to the model of organic carbon accumulation during Cretaceous oceanic anoxic event 2 or organic matter preservation in the black sea (Murray, 1989; Raven et al, 2019; Wagner et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic matter accumulation mechanisms and source rock potential of the Mesoproterozoic Xiamaling Formation, Yanliao Basin, North China

Jiang

Cai

2023

Energy Exploration & Exploitation

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The Mesoproterozoic Xiamaling Formation (∼1.4 Ga) is considered to be a set of promising strata for shale oil and gas exploration and production in the Yanliao Basin, North China Craton. This study aimed to investigate the organic matter accumulation mechanism, and hydrocarbon generation and expulsion characteristics of the Xiamaling Formation, using various methods, including scanning electron microscopy, rock-eval pyrolysis, and elemental geochemistry. Multiple geochemical proxies indicate that Unit 3—Unit 1 of the Xiamaling Formation was deposited in a climate that alternated between highly humid and semiarid conditions, with the strong-to-weak terrigenous influx. The redox conditions of bottom water were undulatory oxic in Unit 3 and the upper part of Unit 1, but anoxic in Unit 2 and the lower part of Unit 1. Sulfurization of organic matter was the main reason for the high TOC content in Unit 3. However, the high TOC content in Unit 2 and the lower part of Unit 1 was caused by an oxygen-deficient water column. Unit 2 and the lower part of Unit 1 exhibit a significant shale oil potential owing to low maturity, high hydrogen index (HI) values, and prevalence of type Ⅰ, II1, and II2 kerogens.

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“…The Ediacaran biota typically disappears by the Ediacaran/Cambrian transition (particularly in North America) and gives way to the distinctive faunal assemblages of the early Cambrian (Darroch et al 2018; Muscente et al 2019; Bowyer et al 2022). There are many hypotheses concerning the appearance and disappearance of the Ediacaran biota, including changing redox (oxic/anoxic) states in Ediacaran oceans (Sperling et al 2016; Zhang et al 2019), preservational biases caused by unique Ediacaran taphonomy or lack of outcrop (Seilacher 1984; Laflamme et al 2013; Gehling et al 2019; Cuthill 2022), and environmental catastrophe or biotic replacement–driven mass extinction (Darroch et al 2018; Tarhan et al 2018; Zhang et al 2021). All of these proposed hypotheses invoke mechanisms known to exert controls on macroevolutionary trends observed from marine metazoan fossils in the Phanerozoic (Valentine 1969; Raup and Sepkoski 1982; Stanley 2007; Erwin 2008; Alroy 2010; Hannisdal and Peters 2011; Aberhan and Kiessling 2012; and many others).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgression–regression cycles drive correlations in Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records

Segessenman,

Peters

2023

Paleobiology

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Strata of the Ediacaran Period (635–538.8 Ma) yield the oldest known fossils of complex, macroscopic organisms in the geologic record. These “Ediacaran-type” macrofossils (known as the Ediacaran biota) first appear in mid-Ediacaran strata, experience an apparent decline through the terminal Ediacaran, and directly precede the Cambrian (538.8–485.4 Ma) radiation of animals. Existing hypotheses for the origin and demise of the Ediacaran biota include: changing oceanic redox states, biotic replacement by succeeding Cambrian-type fauna, and mass extinction driven by environmental change. Few studies frame trends in Ediacaran and Cambrian macroevolution from the perspective of the sedimentary rock record, despite well-documented Phanerozoic covariation of macroevolutionary patterns and sedimentary rock quantity. Here we present a quantitative analysis of North American Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records from Macrostrat and the Paleobiology Database. Marine sedimentary rock quantity increases nearly monotonically and by more than a factor of five from the latest Ediacaran to the late Cambrian. Ediacaran–Cambrian fossil quantities exhibit a comparable trajectory and have strong (rs > 0.8) positive correlations with marine sedimentary area and volume flux at multiple temporal resolutions. Even so, Ediacaran fossil quantities are dramatically reduced in comparison to the Cambrian when normalized by the quantity of preserved marine rock. Although aspects of these results are consistent with the expectations of a simple fossil preservation–induced sampling bias, together they suggest that transgression–regression and a large expansion of marine shelf environments coincided with the diversification of animals during a dramatic transition that is starkly evident in both the sedimentary rock and fossil records.

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Dramatic attenuation of continental weathering during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition: Implications for the climatic-oceanic-biological co-evolution

Cited by 20 publications

References 90 publications

Fluctuations of continental chemical weathering control primary productivity and redox conditions during the Earliest Cambrian

Fluctuations of continental chemical weathering control primary productivity and redox conditions during the Earliest Cambrian

Organic matter accumulation mechanisms and source rock potential of the Mesoproterozoic Xiamaling Formation, Yanliao Basin, North China

Transgression–regression cycles drive correlations in Ediacaran–Cambrian rock and fossil records

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