Extent and persistence of photic zone euxinia in Middle–Late Devonian seas – Insights from the Canning Basin and implications for petroleum source rock formation

Spaak, Gemma; Edwards, Dianne; Allen, Heidi J.; Grotheer, Hendrik; Summons, Roger E.; Coolen, Marco J. L.; Grice, Kliti

doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.033

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Additionally, there is a strong correlation with the concentration of aryl isoprenoids, which are compounds that are degradation products of isorenieratane (e.g. 3,48,50 ) (R 2 = 0.7).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coincidence of photic zone euxinia and impoverishment of arthropods in the aftermath of the Frasnian-Famennian biotic crisis

Broda

Marynowski

Rakociński

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The lowermost Famennian deposits of the Kowala quarry (Holy Cross Mountains, Poland) are becoming famous for their rich fossil content such as their abundant phosphatized arthropod remains (mostly thylacocephalans). Here, for the first time, palaeontological and geochemical data were integrated to document abundance and diversity patterns in the context of palaeoenvironmental changes. During deposition, the generally oxic to suboxic conditions were interrupted at least twice by the onset of photic zone euxinia (PZE). Previously, PZE was considered as essential in preserving phosphatised fossils from, e.g., the famous Gogo Formation, Australia. Here, we show, however, that during PZE, the abundance of arthropods drastically dropped. The phosphorous content during PZE was also very low in comparison to that from oxic-suboxic intervals where arthropods are the most abundant. As phosphorous is essential for phosphatisation but also tends to flux off the sediment during bottom water anoxia, we propose that the PZE in such a case does not promote the fossilisation of the arthropods but instead leads to their impoverishment and non-preservation. Thus, the PZE conditions with anoxic bottom waters cannot be presumed as universal for exceptional fossil preservation by phosphatisation, and caution must be paid when interpreting the fossil abundance on the background of redox conditions.

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“…Additionally, there is a strong correlation with the concentration of aryl isoprenoids, which are compounds that are degradation products of isorenieratane (e.g. 3,48,50 ) (R 2 = 0.7).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coincidence of photic zone euxinia and impoverishment of arthropods in the aftermath of the Frasnian-Famennian biotic crisis

Broda

Marynowski

Rakociński

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Organic geochemistry combined with other proxies in the Ghadames Basin in in northern Gondwana (Libya) indicate that most of the organic matter preserved in the basin was terrestrial in origin, except at the F-F boundary where it was marine in origin . In the Canning Basin of Australia, Spaak et al (2018) suggest that there were different sources of organic carbon depending on the section's location within the basin; i.e. some regions of the basin have OM associated with terrestrial runoff, and other regions indicate OM from a microbial source, possibly due to ocean stratification.…”

Section: Organic Chemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4), which are responding to climate change (e.g., or the addition of biolimiting nutrients from volcanic material Winter, 2015). or It may also be due to a combination of effects, depending on the paleoenvironment (Spaak et al, 2018). Regardless of nutrient source, this "top down" mechanism is the only way anoxia can realistically occur in isolated island arc settings, which do not have large shallow epicontinental shelf topographies (Fig.…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Anoxia: Top Down or Bottom Up?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleogeography and paleoenvironments of the Late Devonian Kellwasser event: A review of its sedimentological and geochemical expression

Carmichael

Waters

Königshof

et al. 2019

Global and Planetary Change

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The Late Devonian (383-359 Ma) was a time of prolonged climate instability with catastrophic perturbation of global marine ecosystems at the Frasnian-Famennian (F-F) and the Devonian-Carboniferous (D-C) boundaries. The causes and mechanisms of anoxia and extinction at the F-F interval are not clearly delineated, and alternative explanations for virtually every aspect of this interval are still intensely debated. In many (but not all) locations, the F-F interval is characterized by two dark, organic-rich lithologies: the Lower and Upper Kellwasser beds (as originally described in Germany) that represent a stepwise ocean anoxia and extinction sequence. The Upper and Lower Kellwasser anoxia event beds are often collectively termed the Kellwasser Event, and the termination of this sequence is within the Upper Kellwasser Event at the F-F boundary. Current knowledge is limited by significant sampling bias, as most previous studies sampled epicontinental seaways or passive continental shelves, primarily from localities across Europe and North America. Together these formed a single equatorial continent with a rising mountain chain during the Late Devonian. Our understanding of the Kellwasser Event is thus based on data and observations from a restricted set of paleoenvironments that may not represent the complete range of Late Devonian environments and oceanic conditions. In the last decade, new methodologies and research in additional paleoenvironments around the world confirm that the Kellwasser Event was global in scope, but also that its expression varies with both paleoenvironment and paleogeography. Studying the many differing geochemical and lithological expressions of the Kellwasser Event using a) a wide variety of paleoenvironments, b) a multiproxy approach, and c) placement of results into the broader context of Late Devonian marine biodiversity patterns is vital for understanding the true scope of ocean anoxia, and determining the causes of the marine biodiversity crisis at the F-F boundary.

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“…To further assess whether PZE was persistent or intermittent, we employed the aryl isoprenoid ratio (AIR), which relates the proportion of short-chain (C 13 -C 17 ) to intermediate-chain (C 18 -C 22 ) aryl isoprenoids to determine the extent of aerobic degradation undergone by these compounds (Schwark & Frimmel, 2004;Spaak et al, 2018). Low AIR values (<1) are proposed to highlight enhanced molecular preservation in a highly reducing environment such that photic zone anoxia is considered to be persistent, while higher values of AIR (>1) indicate settings where long-chain aryl isoprenoids have been increasingly degraded and thus represent periods of only episodic photic zone anoxia.…”

Section: Chlorobi Carotenoid Markersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A stable and productive marine microbial community was sustained through the end‐Devonian Hangenberg Crisis within the Cleveland Shale of the Appalachian Basin, United States

et al. 2018

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The end‐Devonian Hangenberg Crisis constituted one of the greatest ecological and environmental perturbations of the Paleozoic Era. To date, however, it has been difficult to precisely constrain the occurrence of the Hangenberg Crisis in the Appalachian Basin of the United States and thus to directly assess the effects of this crisis on marine microbial communities and paleoenvironmental conditions. Here, we integrate organic and inorganic chemostratigraphic records compiled from two discrete outcrop locations to characterize the onset and paleoenvironmental transitions associated with the Hangenberg Crisis within the Cleveland Shale member of the Ohio Shale. The upper Cleveland Shale records both positive carbon (δ13Corg) and nitrogen (δ15Ntotal) isotopic excursions, and replenished trace metal inventories with links to eustatic rise. These dual but apparently temporally offset isotope excursions may be useful for stratigraphic correlation with other productive end‐Devonian epeiric marine locations. Deposition of the black shale succession occurred locally beneath a redox‐stratified water column with euxinic zones, with signs of strengthening denitrification during the Hangenberg Crisis interval, but with an otherwise stable and algal‐rich marine microbial community structure sustained in the surface mixed layer as ascertained by lipid biomarker assemblages. Discernible trace fossil signals in some horizons suggest, however, that bioturbation and seafloor oxygenation occurred episodically throughout this succession and highlight that geochemical proxies often fail to capture these rapid and sporadic redox fluctuations in ancient black shales. The paleoenvironmental conditions, source biota, and accumulations of black shale are consistent with expressions of the Hangenberg Crisis globally, suggesting this event is likely captured within the uppermost strata of the Cleveland Shale in North America.

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Extent and persistence of photic zone euxinia in Middle–Late Devonian seas – Insights from the Canning Basin and implications for petroleum source rock formation

Cited by 23 publications

References 56 publications

Coincidence of photic zone euxinia and impoverishment of arthropods in the aftermath of the Frasnian-Famennian biotic crisis

Coincidence of photic zone euxinia and impoverishment of arthropods in the aftermath of the Frasnian-Famennian biotic crisis

Paleogeography and paleoenvironments of the Late Devonian Kellwasser event: A review of its sedimentological and geochemical expression

A stable and productive marine microbial community was sustained through the end‐Devonian Hangenberg Crisis within the Cleveland Shale of the Appalachian Basin, United States

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