Timing and tempo of the Great Oxidation Event Gumsley, Ashley P.; Chamberlain, Kevin R.; Bleeker, Wouter ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
02/2017, Volume:
114, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The first significant buildup in atmospheric oxygen, the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), began in the early Paleoproterozoic in association with global glaciations and continued until the end of the ...Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion ca. 2,060 Ma. The exact timing of and relationships among these events are debated because of poor age constraints and contradictory stratigraphic correlations. Here, we show that the first Paleoproterozoic global glaciation and the onset of the GOE occurred between ca. 2,460 and 2,426 Ma, ∼100 My earlier than previously estimated, based on an age of 2,426 ± 3 Ma for Ongeluk Formation magmatism from the Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. This age helps define a key paleomagnetic pole that positions the Kaapvaal Craton at equatorial latitudes of 11° ± 6° at this time. Furthermore, the rise of atmospheric oxygen was not monotonic, but was instead characterized by oscillations, which together with climatic instabilities may have continued over the next ∼200 My until ≤2,250–2,240 Ma. Ongeluk Formation volcanism at ca. 2,426 Ma was part of a large igneous province (LIP) and represents a waning stage in the emplacement of several temporally discrete LIPs across a large low-latitude continental landmass. These LIPs played critical, albeit complex, roles in the rise of oxygen and in both initiating and terminating global glaciations. This series of events invites comparison with the Neoproterozoic oxygen increase and Sturtian Snowball Earth glaciation, which accompanied emplacement of LIPs across supercontinent Rodinia, also positioned at low latitude.
It is generally accepted that photosynthetic marine planktonic bacteria were responsible for the oxidation of dissolved ferrous iron (Fe(II)) and the subsequent deposition of iron formations (IFs) ...throughout the Archean and early Paleoproterozoic. However, the relative roles of the different biological Fe oxidation mechanisms in driving IF deposition—such as anoxygenic photosynthesis (photoferrotrophs) and oxygenic photosynthesis (cyanobacteria)—remain poorly resolved. Here, we present coupled bulk-rock Fe isotope and manganese (Mn) versus Fe ratios from Archean to early Paleoproterozoic IFs in order to provide a new perspective on Earth’s early redox history and processes leading to IF deposition. Based on this updated IF geochemical record, we bolster the case that the partial oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III) was central to IF genesis, arguing against extensive water column Fe(II) silicate formation as the main process driving IF deposition. The geochemistry of IFs deposited prior to the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) shows that partial Fe(II) oxidation was a common feature in either anoxic or low oxygen (O2) conditions, where metabolic Fe(II) oxidation by photoferrotrophs is likely to have prevailed over ambient Fe(II) oxidation by O2 produced by cyanobacteria. Assuming that cyanobacteria evolved in the Archean, the presence of partial Fe(II) oxidation suggests that O2 production was relatively muted during this time. This points to a model for Archean surface redox conditions, whereby oxygen oases were relatively limited in extent, likely due to low primary productivity of cyanobacteria and high Fe fluxes. We further demonstrate a gradual displacement of metabolic Fe(II) oxidation in the Archean by quantitative O2-driven Fe(II) oxidation during the GOE by ca. 2.31 Ga.
This book takes a unique look at the first Boer war by concentrating on the events and battles of the First Boer War. Due attention is also given to the 2nd Boer War - it's origins, key players and ...significance for the future of South Africa. The personal stories of heroism and sacrifice, sieges, rebellions and battles, make for an enthralling and dramatic tale - a classic of military history that will find a ready audience amongst military enthusiasts.
•~2.4 Ga stromatolitic carbonates petrographically characterised.•Carbonates preserve marine Rare Earth Element patterns.•Positive cerium anomalies imply at least periodic redox stratification of ...basin.•Delta progradation may have shut down oxygen production allowing for pyrite burial.
The Paleoproterozoic Koegas Subgroup (Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa) was deposited in the immediate prelude to the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), and can therefore shed light on oceanic paleoredox conditions just before atmospheric oxidation. Manganese enrichments of ~16 wt% in diagenetic kutnahorite horizons suggest that Mn2+ oxidation occurred, either by free O2 or by an ancient photosystem. Iron and molybdenum isotope trends also support the existence of a Mn4+ oxide sediment flux, suggesting that the Koegas basin may have been redox stratified. Evidence from detrital and authigenic pyrite with mass-independently fractionated sulfur isotopes, however, suggests that the atmosphere was devoid of oxygen. To resolve this contradiction, this paper presents new constraints on pathways of Mn2+ oxidation from field, petrographic, stable isotope, and rare earth element and yttrium (REYSN) analysis of stromatolitic carbonates from the upper Koegas Subgroup. Ferroan dolostones and limestones preserve marine REYSN arrays with positive CeSN anomalies. These differences are explained by a redox stratified basin, whereby Mn2+ and Ce3+ are oxidized at a redoxcline and Ce is adsorped onto sinking Mn oxide particles. Mn oxide particles and a negative Ce anomaly from the oxidized upper water column are transferred into carbonates accumulating above the redoxcline. Diagenetic fluids later reduce the Mn oxides to kutnahorite. Below the redoxcline, reduction of Mn oxides enriches carbonates in Mn and a positive Ce anomaly. This contribution adds evidence for the development of oxygen oases and redox-stratified basins before the GOE. Redox stratification was best developed during transgressions. During regressions, a deltaic system prograded into the Koegas Basin. High sedimentation rates likely allowed for preservation of detrital pyrite only in the deltaic sandstones, thus explaining the contradictory geochemical evidence. No previously unknown ancient photosystem of Mn oxidation is required to explain Mn oxidation.
Abstract Capturing the loss of mass-independent sulphur isotope fractionation (MIF-S), the correlative South African Duitschland and Rooihoogte formations are widely held to bear the isotopic ...fingerprint of the first atmospheric oxygenation at the onset of the so-called Great Oxidation Event (GOE). Surprisingly, however, while the multiple sulphur isotope systematics of these formations remain central to our understanding of the GOE, until now, comparatively little work has been done to elucidate the repercussions within the marine realm. Here we present chemostratigraphic records from four drill cores covering a large area of the Transvaal Basin, transcending these crucial units and continuing into the overlying Timeball Hill Formation (TBH), that document the immediate, yet counterintuitive, marine response to atmospheric oxygenation. Specifically, irrespective of the interpretative framework employed, our basin-wide redox-sensitive trace element data document an environmental change from oxic/suboxic conditions within the lower and middle parts of the Duitschland and Rooihoogte formations to suboxic/anoxic conditions within their upper reaches. Interestingly, in concert with a ~35‰ negative δ34S excursion that implicates increased sulphate availability and bacterial sulphate reduction, δ98/95Mo3134+0.25 values increase by ~1.0 to 1.5‰. Combining these observations with increased Fe/Mn ratios, elevated total sulphur and carbon contents and a trend towards lower δ13Corg values imply a shift toward less oxygenated conditions across the Transvaal Basin. The combined observations in the mentioned parameters expose a geobiological feedback-driven causality between the earliest oxygenation of the atmosphere and decreased redox potentials of medium to deep marine environments, at least within the Transvaal Basin.
•Combination of dating techniques improves accuracy of determination.•Spurious detrital zircon dates post-dating crystallization found by LA-ICP-MS.•LA-ICP-MS studies should routinely chemically ...abrade zircon prior to analyses.•The oldest Paleoproterozoic glacial event is dated to 2423.1 ± 1.0 Ma.•Anoxic atmospheric settings from the Koegas Subgroup are dated to 2451.5 ± 2.5 Ma.
The Transvaal Supergroup, on the Kaapvaal Craton in South Africa, is widely accepted as one of the best-preserved sedimentary archives to constrain planetary-scale environmental changes during the late Archean and early Proterozoic, yet the sedimentation age for certain stratigraphic intervals remains poorly constrained. To improve the temporal control on some of the first-order global changes recorded in these rocks, we carried out U-Pb analyses of detrital zircon populations from several clastic and volcano-clastic sedimentary units of the Transvaal Supergroup. We applied the Chemical Abrasion-Isotope Dilution-Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) technique on detrital and volcanic zircon populations that had been previously screened using the Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) technique. We report new maximum depositional age estimates for the Pannetjie (2456.6 ± 7.0 Ma), the Heynskop (2451.5 ± 2.5 Ma), the Makganyene (2423.1 ± 1.0 Ma) and the Hekpoort formations (2248.0 ± 1.1 Ma).
A ca. 2.25 Ga-old cluster of LA-ICP-MS analyses in the Makganyene Formation was identified to be spurious, since it was completely removed during the chemical abrasion. Thus, we speculate that circulation of hydrothermal fluids and associated Pb-loss from a radiation-damaged lattice during the emplacement of the much younger Hekpoort Formation or possibly the Ophthalmia Orogeny, recorded in Western Australia, may have reset the U-Pb system of this zircon population. This implies that the accurate maximum depositional age of the Makganyene Formation is ca. 2.42 Ga instead, which denotes the age of the oldest glacial event of global extent during the Paleoproterozoic. Therefore, we suggest that the combination of both dating techniques is essential to ensure accurate maximum depositional age constraints for ancient detrital sedimentary rocks. Additionally, our data provides temporal constraints on a period characterized by major fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen. Finally, and supporting the complex nature of the Paleoproterozoic, linkages between widespread glaciations and atmospheric oxygen fluctuations remain to be explored.
Drill core and outcrop samples of pure marine chemical sediments (banded iron formation (BIF), manganese formation (MnF), jaspilites, lutites, and cherts) from the transition of the ~2426 Ma old ...Ongeluk Formation into the 2413 Ma old Hotazel Formation, Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa, reveal remarkable changes of seawater chemistry in the Transvaal Ocean. Similar to pre-Ongeluk chemical sediments, the shale-normalized rare earths and yttrium (REYSN) patterns of jaspilites intercalated with the volcanic rocks of the Ongeluk large igneous province and directly overlying cherts do not show positive EuSN anomalies, indicating that high-temperature (>250 °C) hydrothermal fluids did not contribute significantly to the REY budget of ambient waters. However, a 10 cm drill core section in the lower Hotazel Formation is characterized by conspicuous positive EuSN anomalies, revealing temporary inflow of water masses strongly affected by high-temperature hydrothermal fluids. After this short episode, the REYSN pattern of Transvaal seawater returned to that of pre-Ongeluk times, showing heavy REYSN enrichment, positive LaSN, GdSN and YSN anomalies, but no CeSN or EuSN anomalies. Higher up in the stratigraphy, the Hotazel Formation shows negative CeSN anomalies in some of the lutites, BIFs and MnFs, reflecting Ce depletion in ambient seawater. All Hotazel lutite, BIF, and MnF samples studied show unradiogenic εNd(t) values (−0.5 ± 0.2 to −2.4 ± 0.2), indicating a mostly continental REY source. The REY distribution and Nd isotope data combined suggest that oxidative terrestrial weathering of this continental crustal source supplied most of the dissolved REY to local “Transvaal seawater”. Precipitation of the Hotazel lutites, BIFs and MnFs with negative CeSN anomalies, therefore, suggests that oxic conditions prevailed on the Kaapvaal Craton and in Hotazel seawater already at ~2.413 Ga, i.e. 80 m.y. before the disappearance of mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation (MIF-S) that defines the Great Oxidation Event at ~2.33 Ga.
Display omitted
•REY provenance and evolution of REY seawater chemistry between 2426 and 2413 Ma ago•Short-lived high-temperature hydrothermal event after emplacement of Ongeluk LIP•Ce decoupling by oxidative terrestrial weathering of REY source of Hotazel Fm.
The end of the Archean aeon (3.0–2.5 Ga) was a period of fundamental change in many aspects of the geological record. In Archean cratons, this timespan is marked by a considerable diversification in ...both the nature and petrogenesis of granitoid rocks. In this article, we review the nature, petrogenesis and global evolution of late-Archean granitoids and discuss their geodynamic significance.Late-Archean granitoids can be classified into four groups: (1) volumetrically-dominant and juvenile tonalites, trondhjemites and granodiorites (TTGs), whose geochemistry is consistent with an origin through partial melting of meta-igneous mafic rocks at various pressures; (2) Mg-, Fe- and K-rich, metaluminous (monzo)diorites and granodiorites, referred to as sanukitoids s.l., which derive primarily from hybridization between mantle peridotite and a component rich in incompatible elements; (3) peraluminous and K-rich biotite- and two-mica granites, formed through melting of older crustal lithologies (TTGs and meta-sediments, respectively); and (4) hybrid high-K granites with mixed characteristics from the first three groups.The chronology of granitoid emplacement in late-Archean times is different from one craton to another but, in general, follows a very specific two-stage sequence: (1) a long period (0.2–0.5 Ga) of TTG emplacement; (2) a shorter period (0.02–0.15 Ga) during which all other granitoid types were generated. We propose that this sequence represents the first global subduction–collision cycle in the Earth's history. Although possibly present in the geological record prior to 3.0 Ga, such mechanisms became progressively prevalent on a planetary scale only between 3.0 and 2.5 Ga, indicating that the late-Archean geodynamic changes resulted from the global initiation of “modern-style” plate tectonics. The Archean–Proterozoic transition thus represents a major change in the mechanisms of the Earth's heat loss: before 3.0–2.5 Ga, it took place by large-scale magmatic differentiation characterized by generation of proto-continents that underwent crustal maturation locally, but without obvious cyclic activity on a planetary scale. After this, heat loss became accommodated by plate tectonics and global Wilson subduction–collision cycles. These changes were the consequence of the Earth's cooling, which in turn controlled a number of different parameters locally (thickness, temperature, volume and rheology of the crust). This explains why the changes took place over a short timespan (~ 0.5 Ga) relative to the Earth's history, but at different times and with different characteristics from one craton to another.
Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic sandstones and quartzites of the Pretoria Group (Transvaal Supergroup) in the Transvaal Basin of South Africa are important markers for regional correlations and dating ...of events of global importance (e.g., the Great Oxidation Event). The succession has few independent age markers, and much of the discussion about the time of deposition and the source of material of these rocks has been based on data from detrital zircon suites. The clastic sedimentary rocks of the Pretoria Group contain detrital zircon grains ranging from the Mesoarchaean to ages that are near-contemporaneous to, and even younger than the overlying and crosscutting igneous rocks of the Bushveld Complex. We show that the U-Pb age and Lu-Hf isotope distributions of the detrital zircon population in the Pretoria Group are the result of three different types of processes, acting successively: (1) Crystallisation in the igneous or metamorphic protosource rock (i.e., the rock where the zircon originally crystallised), (2) Metamorphic and hydrothermal resetting of the U-Pb chronometer induced by emplacement and crystallisation of the 2 055 Ma Bushveld Complex, and (3) Late, low-temperature processes (e.g., weathering). Critical age markers of maximum ages of deposition obtained after excluding effects of (2) and (3) are the 2 200 Ma Magaliesberg Formation (outside of the Bushveld aureole) and the 2 080 to 2 100 Ma Lakenvalei Formation. The Leeuwpoort Formation is a worst-case example, containing both young (<2 200 Ma) unmodified detrital zircon and hydrothermally altered zircon in the same age range. The two can only be distinguished from trace element analyses. Age distributions of Archaean and early Palaeoproterozoic zircon age fractions overlap with detrital zircon age suites in lower (i.e., pre-Timeball Hill Formation) parts of the Transvaal Supergroup, suggesting recycling within the basin or from the basin margin. Overlaps in 2 200 to 2 350 Ma zircon ages with those of volcanogenic zircon in the Timeball Hill Formation again suggest recycling. The origin of 2 080 to 2 150 Ma zircon is uncertain, but neither poorly constrained sources in the Kaapvaal Craton (e.g., Okwa Basement Complex) nor recycling of volcanogenic material from post-Magaliesberg formations can be ruled out.
PDF
