Coupled silicon–oxygen isotope fractionation traces Archaean silicification

Abraham, Kathrin; Hofmann, Axel; Foley, Stephen F.; Cardinal, Damien; Harris, Chris; Barth, Matthias; André, Luc

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.11.002

Cited by 74 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In contrast to REE and Nd isotope studies, Ge/Si measurements of the silica rich layers in BIF from the 2.5 Ga old Dales Gorge Member of the Hamersley Group suggest that silica in these BIFs was derived by weathering of continental land mass, whereas the iron has a hydrothermal , 2007, 2010), Onverwacht Group cherts (Abraham et al, 2011), Old Wanderer Formation BIFs (Steinhoefel et al, 2009) and the Dales Gorge, Kuruman and Penge BIFs (Steinhoefel et al, 2010). It is clear that BIFs typically show lower d 30 Si compared to non-BIF cherts that were deposited in peritidal environments.…”

Section: Silica Fluxes To the Precambrian Oceans And Their Isotopic Cmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Basile-Doelsch et al, 2005;Robert and Chaussidon, 2006) is still 3 times less precise than MC-ICPMS. Several recent studies have reported high-precision MC-ICPMS Si isotope measurements of cherts, primarily from Archean successions (Andre et al, 2006;van den Boorn et al, 2007van den Boorn et al, , 2010Steinhoefel et al, 2009Steinhoefel et al, , 2010Abraham et al, 2011). Here we report high-precision MC-ICPMS Si isotope data for a suite of well-characterized chert samples with ages ranging from $2530 to $750 Ma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Although the All available bulk rock and in situ MC-ICPMS data as well as in situ ion-probe and SIMS results for cherts including our data (blue and red crosses). Data for Archean cherts are from Isua (BIFs, Andre et al, 2006), C and S cherts (van den Boorn et al, 2007Boorn et al, , 2010, Onverwacht Group cherts (Abraham et al, 2011), Old Wanderer Formation BIFs (Steinhoefel et al, 2009) and the Dales Gorge, Kuruman and Penge BIFs (Steinhoefel et al, 2010). Error bars for all MC-ICPMS and SIMS data are smaller than the size of the symbols.…”

Section: Si Cycling and Si Isotopes In The Modern Earth Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2), other MC-ICPMS data from Archean samples (Andre et al, 2006;van den Boorn et al, 2007van den Boorn et al, , 2010Steinhoefel et al, 2009Steinhoefel et al, , 2010Abraham et al, 2011) as well as in situ analyses (Robert and Chaussidon, 2006;Heck et al, 2011).…”

Section: Temporal Variation Of D 30 Si In Precambrian Chertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Si isotope variability in Proterozoic cherts

Chakrabarti

Knoll

Jacobsen

et al. 2012

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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We report Si-isotopic compositions of 75 sedimentologically and petrographically characterized chert samples with ages ranging from $2600 to 750 Ma using multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. d 30 Si values of the cherts analyzed in this study show a $7& range, from À4.29 to +2.85. This variability can be explained in part by (1) simple mixing of silica derived from continental (higher d 30 Si) and hydrothermal (lower d 30 Si) sources, (2) multiple mechanisms of silica precipitation and (3) Rayleigh-type fractionations within pore waters of individual basins.We observe $3& variation in peritidal cherts from a single Neoproterozoic sedimentary basin (Spitsbergen). This variation can be explained by Rayleigh-type fractionation during precipitation from silica-saturated porewaters. In some samples, postdissolution and reprecipitation of silica could have added to this effect. Our data also indicate that peritidal cherts are enriched in the heavier isotopes of Si whereas basinal cherts associated with banded iron formations (BIF) show lower d 30 Si. This difference could partly be due to Si being derived from hydrothermal sources in BIFs. We postulate that the difference in d 30 Si between non-BIF and BIF cherts is consistent with the contrasting genesis of these deposits. Low d 30 Si in BIF is consistent with laboratory experiments showing that silica adsorbed onto Fe-hydroxide particles preferentially incorporates lighter Si isotopes.Despite large intrabasinal variation and environmental differences, the data show a clear pattern of secular variation. Low d 30 Si in Archean cherts is consistent with a dominantly hydrothermal source of silica to the oceans at that time. The monotonically increasing d 30 Si from 3.8 to 1.5 Ga appears to reflect a general increase in continental versus hydrothermal sources of Si in seawater, as well as the preferential removal of lighter Si isotopes during silica precipitation in iron-associated cherts from silica-saturated seawater. The highest d 30 Si values are observed in 1.5 Ga peritidal cherts; in part, these enriched values could reflect increasing sequestration of light silica during soil-forming processes, thus, delivering relatively heavy dissolved silica to the oceans from continental sources. The causes behind the reversal in trend towards lower d 30 Si in cherts younger than 1.5 Ga old are less clear. Cherts deposited 1800-1900 Ma are especially low d 30 Si, a possible indication of transiently strong hydrothermal input at this time.

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Section: Silica Fluxes To the Precambrian Oceans And Their Isotopic Cmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Si Cycling and Si Isotopes In The Modern Earth Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Temporal Variation Of D 30 Si In Precambrian Chertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Si isotope variability in Proterozoic cherts

Chakrabarti

Knoll

Jacobsen

et al. 2012

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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“…Frontiers in Marine Science | www.frontiersin.org Robert and Chaussidon (2006), van den Boorn et al (2007van den Boorn et al ( , 2010, Steinhoefel et al (2009Steinhoefel et al ( , 2010, Abraham et al (2011), Heck et al (2011), Chakrabarti et al (2012, Delvigne (2012), Marin-Carbonne et al (2014), Hu et al (2013), Ramseyer et al (2013), Geilert et al (2014), Li et al (2014), Brengman (2015, Stefurak et al (2015), Delvigne et al (2012), Wen et al (2016), and Ding et al (2017).…”

Section: Changing Si Biogeochemistry In the Precambrian Oceansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biosilicification Drives a Decline of Dissolved Si in the Oceans through Geologic Time

et al. 2017

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Biosilicification has driven variation in the global Si cycle over geologic time. The evolution of different eukaryotic lineages that convert dissolved Si (DSi) into mineralized structures (higher plants, siliceous sponges, radiolarians, and diatoms) has driven a secular decrease in DSi in the global ocean leading to the low DSi concentrations seen today. Recent studies, however, have questioned the timing previously proposed for the DSi decreases and the concentration changes through deep time, which would have major implications for the cycling of carbon and other key nutrients in the ocean. Here, we combine relevant genomic data with geological data and present new hypotheses regarding the impact of the evolution of biosilicifying organisms on the DSi inventory of the oceans throughout deep time. Although there is no fossil evidence for true silica biomineralization until the late Precambrian, the timing of the evolution of silica transporter genes suggests that bacterial silicon-related metabolism has been present in the oceans since the Archean with eukaryotic silicon metabolism already occurring in the Neoproterozoic. We hypothesize that biological processes have influenced oceanic DSi concentrations since the beginning of oxygenic photosynthesis.

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