Marine redox fluctuation as a potential trigger for the Cambrian explosion

Wei, Guang‐Yi; Planavsky, Noah J.; Tarhan, Lidya G.; Chen, Xi; Wei, Wei; Li, Da; Ling, Hong‐Fei

doi:10.1130/g40150.1

Cited by 112 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Therefore, an episode of pervasive ocean oxygenation across the SE may have been an extrinsic driver either for the emergence of the Ediacara biota during the Avalon assemblage or its diversification in the White Sea assemblage. The subsequent shift to extensive anoxic conditions during the terminal Ediacaran Period coincides with the decline and extinction of the Ediacara biota (Tostevin et al, ; Wei et al, ; Zhang, Xiao, et al, ). Thus, although genetic, environmental, and ecological factors may have played a role in shaping the evolutionary history of early animals, our data suggest that the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota is, on the first order, coupled with the wax and wane of global ocean oxygenation.…”

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…551 − 541 Ma) and in the early Cambrian (during the Cambrian Age 2 at ca. 525 Ma) with a temporary transition to more oxygenated conditions at the Ediacaran−Cambrian boundary (Tostevin et al, ; Wei et al, ; Zhang, Xiao, et al, ). Therefore, this and previous studies confirm that the oceanic redox evolution from the Neoproterozoic to the Paleozoic was not a history of simple and unidirectional oxygenation, but one with rapid perturbations in the relative proportions of anoxic versus oxic waters (Figure ) (Johnston et al, ; Sahoo et al, ; Wood et al, ; Zhang, Xiao, et al, ).…”

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compilation of Ediacaran–Cambrian δ 238 U data. Data sources: This study (light blue); Kendall et al, 2015 (black); Zhang, Xiao, et al, 2018 (orange); Wei et al, 2018 (dark green); Tostevin et al, 2019 (light green) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies provide evidence that an episode of extensive marine anoxia during the terminal Ediacaran Period may have contributed to the decline of the Ediacara biota (Tostevin et al, ; Wei et al, ; Zhang, Xiao, et al, ). However, the cause of the rise of the Ediacara biota during the middle Ediacaran Period remains a subject of intensive debate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The U isotope system ( 238 U/ 235 U, denoted as δ 238 U) measured in carbonate sedimentary rocks is a more direct probe of global ocean redox conditions and can be used to place quantitative constraints on the extent of global redox changes (Brennecka, Herrmann, Algeo, & Anbar, ; Clarkson et al, ; Elrick et al, ; Lau et al, ; Tostevin et al, ; Wei et al, ; Zhang, Algeo, Cui, et al, ; Zhang, Algeo, Romaniello, et al, ; Zhang, Romaniello, et al, ; Zhang, Xiao, et al, ). The power of U isotopes as a global proxy derives from the fact that in the modern ocean U has a long residence time, ~500 kyr (Dunk, Mills, & Jenkins, ), and hence, δ 238 U is uniform in the open ocean (e.g., Tissot & Dauphas, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

et al. 2019

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The role of O2 in the evolution of early animals, as represented by some members of the Ediacara biota, has been heavily debated because current geochemical evidence paints a conflicting picture regarding global marine O2 levels during key intervals of the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota. Fossil evidence indicates that the diversification the Ediacara biota occurred during or shortly after the Ediacaran Shuram negative C‐isotope Excursion (SE), which is often interpreted to reflect ocean oxygenation. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding ocean oxygen levels during the SE and the middle Ediacaran Period. To help resolve this debate, we examined U isotope variations (δ238U) in three carbonate sections from South China, Siberia, and USA that record the SE. The δ238U data from all three sections are in excellent agreement and reveal the largest positive shift in δ238U ever reported in the geologic record (from ~ −0.74‰ to ~ −0.26‰). Quantitative modeling of these data suggests that the global ocean switched from a largely anoxic state (26%–100% of the seafloor overlain by anoxic waters) to near‐modern levels of ocean oxygenation during the SE. This episode of ocean oxygenation is broadly coincident with the rise of the Ediacara biota. Following this initial radiation, the Ediacara biota persisted until the terminal Ediacaran period, when recently published U isotope data indicate a return to more widespread ocean anoxia. Taken together, it appears that global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota.

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Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Marine Redox Change Drove the Rise And Fall Of The Edmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

et al. 2019

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The Ediacaran‐Cambrian Transition

Kaufman

2018

Geophysical Monograph Series

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The record of sea water chemistry evolution during the Ediacaran–Cambrian from early marine cements

Xiong

Wood

Pichevin

2022

The Depositional Record

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The Ediacaran-Cambrian Radiation marks the widespread appearance of metazoans and calcareous biomineralised hard parts. These innovations occurred during an interval of dynamic changes in marine redox and sea water chemistry. Here, changing carbonate mineralogy, Mg/Ca ratios and rare earth element concentrations including the relative abundance of cerium (Ce anomaly: Ce anom ) are documented to track sea water oxygen levels, in well-preserved early marine cements from shallow marine reefs from Cambrian Stages 2-4 (ca 525-512 Ma). First, integrating the mineralogical data with published records, several shifts in dominant carbonate mineralogy are inferred: 'dolomite-aragonite seas' in the late Ediacaran; 'aragonite/high-Mg calcite seas' in Cambrian Stage 2; a temporary shift to a 'calcite sea' during early Cambrian Stage 3; an 'aragonite sea' between late Cambrian Stage 3 and late Cambrian Stage 4, then a gradual shift from mixed 'aragonite-calcite seas' during the middle and upper Cambrian towards a 'calcite sea' by the early Ordovician. Second, based on measured mMg/ Ca in early marine cements, calculated sea water mMg/Ca at 15 and 35°C ranges from 1.2 to 0.8 in Cambrian Stage 2, 0.7-0.4 in Stage 3 and 1.4-0.9 in Stage 4 respectively. Finally, analysed Ce anom data combined with existing Ce anom data suggest potentially three phases of global oxic expansion. First, a long-lived phase of progressive oxygenation during the late Ediacaran to Fortunian (ca 550-540 Ma; average Ce anom from 0.99 to 0.41), and possibly two shorter phases during early Cambrian Stage 3 (ca 519 Ma; average Ce anom from 0.91 to 0.40) and Stage 4 (ca 512 Ma; average Ce anom from 1.02 to 0.49), bounded by intervals of more dominant anoxia. Summarising, these data demonstrate that early marine cements offer an underused and high-resolution archive of shallow marine redox and sea water chemistry through this critical transition in Earth's evolution.

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Marine redox fluctuation as a potential trigger for the Cambrian explosion

Cited by 112 publications

References 22 publications

Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

Global marine redox changes drove the rise and fall of the Ediacara biota

The Ediacaran‐Cambrian Transition

The record of sea water chemistry evolution during the Ediacaran–Cambrian from early marine cements

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