Biological Influences on Seafloor Carbonate Precipitation

Bergmann, Kristin; Grotzinger, J. P.; Fischer, Woodward W.

doi:10.2110/palo.2012.p12-088r

Cited by 64 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…The Proterozoic almost certainly had greater rates of iron reduction, sulfate reduction, and pyrite precipitation, and hence more extensive authigenic carbonate formation (Bergmann 2013). Mass balance in the sulfur isotope system requires almost all sulfur to have been buried as pyrite during the Proterozoic, compared to about 40% today (Canfield 2004), consistent with observations of greater total sulfate reduction in modern anoxic sediments than in their oxic counterparts (Canfield 1989).…”

Section: Reconciling Isotopic and Redox Constraints On F Orgsupporting

confidence: 71%

A theory of atmospheric oxygen

Laakso

Schrag

2017

Geobiology

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There is no direct geologic record of the level of free oxygen in the atmosphere over Earth history. Indirect proxy records have led to a canonical view of atmospheric pO 2 , according to which the atmosphere has passed through three stages. During the first of these periods, corresponding roughly to the Archean eon, pO 2 was less than 0.001% present atmospheric levels (PAL). Oxygen levels rose abruptly around 2.4 billion years ago, a transition referred to as the "Great Oxidation Event" (GOE). This event marks the beginning of the second phase in the history of oxygen, corresponding roughly to the Proterozoic eon, during which pO 2 was in the range of 1% to 10% PAL. Between the latest Neoproterozoic and the early Phanerozoic eon, oxygen rose again, beginning the final stage in the history of oxygen, characterized by essentially modern levels of pO 2 .The processes governing this evolution of the atmosphere are poorly understood. The biogeochemical cycles of redox-sensitive species in the ocean and atmosphere, including oxygen, carbon, iron, and sulfur, must somehow stabilize pO 2 on billion-year time scales, much longer than the residence time of the individual species, and yet also allow pO 2 to achieve equilibrium at widely divergent levels at di↵erent points in time. Only with a clear understanding of these steady-state processes can we understand how pO 2 will respond to the changes in biogeochemical cycling that may have driven the two major oxidation events.In this thesis we use a model of biogeochemical cycling and laboratory experiments to exiii plore the processes that stabilize pO 2 at di↵erent levels over Earth history. We find that a suite of negative feedbacks, including the oxygen-sensitivity of organic carbon burial, allow the stability of oxygen at modern levels. These feedbacks leave pO 2 very insensitive to most aspects of the biogeochemical system, such that stable, Proterozoic levels of pO 2 can only be explained by a smaller supply of phosphorus to the biosphere at that time. Experimental results show that inorganic scavenging processes, which compete with biology for phosphorus, may be more e↵ective in low-oxygen environments due to di↵erences in iron-redox cycling.We explore redox dynamics in the Archean by coupling our biogeochemical model to a hydrogen escape calculation that incorporates the e↵ects of changing oxygen levels on thermosphere composition and temperature. We find that the Archean was characterized by several di↵erent steady states of oxygen, each corresponding to a di↵erent stage in the evolution of life. Furthermore, interactions between the cycles of carbon, oxygen, iron and calcium give rise to a previously unrecognized positive feedback. Our model results show that this feedback allows Archean pO 2 to increase rapidly to a new steady state at Proterozoic levels, given a large enough perturbation. The high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide following a Snowball Earth glacial event do act as such a trigger in our simulations, providing a hypothesis for the appa...

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Section: Reconciling Isotopic and Redox Constraints On F Orgsupporting

confidence: 71%

A theory of atmospheric oxygen

Laakso

Schrag

2017

Geobiology

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“…This secular trend in carbonate seafloor precipitation in Earth's history suggests that the carbonate precipitation has been generally related to oceanic anoxia (e.g., Grotzinger and Knoll 1995;Higgins et al 2009). However, other factors may have also influenced the authigenic carbonate precipitation because oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) in the Phanerozoic were not always associated with the widespread occurrence of authigenic carbonates (e.g., Bergmann et al 2013). Nonetheless, our results from Chaotian imply that when the authigenic carbonates precipitate near the sediment-water interface in anoxic oceans, their δ 13 C carb values are close to the δ 13 C DIC value of seawater.…”

mentioning

confidence: 65%

“…In other words, the water-mass anaerobic respiration promotes the recycling of fixed organic carbon back to the large oceanic DIC pool. In the anoxic oceans, authigenic carbonate is mainly generated near the sediment-water interface rather than deep within the sediments (Higgins et al 2009;Bergmann et al 2013). As a result, the δ…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Authigenic carbonate precipitation at the end-Guadalupian (Middle Permian) in China: Implications for the carbon cycle in ancient anoxic oceans

Saitoh

Ueno

Isozaki

et al. 2015

Prog. in Earth and Planet. Sci.

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Carbonate precipitation is a major process in the global carbon cycle. It was recently proposed that authigenic carbonate (carbonate precipitated in situ at the sediment-water interface and/or within the sediment) played a major role in the carbon cycle throughout Earth's history. The carbon isotopic composition of authigenic carbonates in ancient oceans have been assumed to be significantly lower than that of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater, as is observed in the modern oceans. However, the δ 13 C carb values of authigenic carbonates in the past has not been analyzed in detail. Here, we report authigenic carbonates in the uppermost Guadalupian (Middle Permian) rocks at Chaotian, Sichuan, South China. Monocrystalline calcite crystals <20 mm long are common in the black mudstone/chert sequence that was deposited on a relatively deep anoxic slope/basin along the continental margin. Textures of the crystals indicate in situ precipitation on the seafloor and/or within the sediments. The calcite precipitation corresponds stratigraphically with denitrification and sulfate reduction in the anoxic deep-water mass, as indicated by previously reported nitrogen and sulfur isotope records, respectively. Relatively high δ 13C carb values of the authigenic carbonates (largely −1 ‰) compared with those of organic matter in the rocks (ca. −26 ‰) suggest that the main carbon source of the carbonates was DIC in the water column. The calcite crystals precipitated in an open system with respect to carbonate, possibly near the sediment-water interface rather than deep within the sediments. The δ 13C carb values of the carbonates were close to the δ 13 C DIC value of seawater due to mixing of 13 C-depleted remineralized organic carbon (that was released into the water column by the water-mass anaerobic respiration) with the large DIC pool in the oceans. Our results imply that δ 13 C carb values of authigenic carbonates in the anoxic oceans might have been systematically different from the values in the oxic oceans in Earth's history, controlled by the depth of the redoxcline in the water column and sediments. If our model is correct, authigenic carbonates with relatively high δ 13C carb values in the ancient anoxic oceans may have had a less substantial influence on the bulk δ 13C carb values in geologic records than has been previously suggested.

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“…As noted above, preserved textures in stromatolites and other Lower Archean carbonate lithologies include more abundant abiotically precipitated fabrics [88,89] than at any subsequent time. This temporal characteristic of Archean carbonate rocks has been interpreted in a number of ways: higher carbonate saturation levels (V) in surface seawater [86,89], a reduced depth gradient in V that reflects anaerobic respiration at depth [90], sediment -water interface effects of anaerobic respiration from increased access to oxides [91], and a change in the dynamics of carbonate inhibition by reduced ions competing for precipitation sites [92]. While the exact temperature range of the Archean climate is still debated, if warmer, temperature would have had a positive effect on precipitation through predictable changes in the rate constant.…”

Section: Archean Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%