Shuram-Wonoka carbon isotope excursion:Ediacaran revolution in the world ocean's meridional overturning circulation

The late Ediacaran Shuram-Wonoka excursion, with δ^(13)C_(carb) values as low as-12‰(PDB) in marineshelf deposits and spanning up to 10 Myr, is the deepest and most protracted δ^(13)C_(carb) negative anomaly recognised in Earth history. The excursion formed on at least four continents in low(≤32°) palaeolatitudes, and in China is associated with a major phosphogenic event. Global and intrabasinal correlation, magnetostratigraphy, isotope conglomerate tests and further geochemical data are consistent with a primary or syn-depositional origin for the excursion. Continental-margin phosphorites are generated by oceanic upwelling driven by surface winds, and δ^(13)C_(carb) negative anomalies are explicable by oceanic upwelling of 13 C-depleted deep oceanic waters, arguing that a feature common to these exceptional Ediacaran events was unprecedented perturbation of the world ocean. These events occurred during the transition from an alien Proterozoic world marked by low-palaeolatitude glaciation near sea level and strong seasonality to the familiar Phanerozoic Earth with circum-polar glaciation and temperate climate, suggesting that the Shuram-Wonoka excursion is related to this profound change in Earth's climate system. Of various hypotheses for Proterozoic low-palaeolatitude glaciation, only the high obliquity(>54°) hypothesis, which posits secular decrease in obliquity to near the present-day value(23.5°) during the Ediacaran, predicts an unparalleled revolution in the Ediacaran world ocean. The obliquity controls the sense of the world ocean's meridional overturning circulation, which today is driven by the sinking of cold, dense water at the poles and upwelling driven by zonal surface winds.When the decreasing obliquity passed the critical value of 54° during the Ediacaran the meridional temperature gradient reversed, with the equator becoming warmer than the poles and Hadley lowlatitude(<30°-35°) atmospheric zonal circulation reversing. This reversal of the temperature gradient is unique to the Ediacaran Period and caused reversal of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation,with upwelling of anoxic, 13 C-depleted deep oceanic waters producing a deeply negative and protractedδ^(13)C_(carb) signature on late Ediacaran marine-shelf deposits.

Carbon Isotope Excursions and Paleo-Oceanography of the Ordovician–Silurian Boundary Carbonate Rocks from the Xainza Area, Tibet

Objective The Ordovician–Silurian transitional period is a special time when the global paleo-environment changed greatly.It witnessed the first mass extinction as of Phanerozoic period and glaciations that occurred frequently at a large scale in a very short time,which has thus attracted much attention among geoscientists at home and abroad.

Paleoenvironment reconstruction of the Middle Ordovician thick carbonate from western Ordos Basin, China

Reconstructing paleoenvironments has long been considered a vital component for understanding the development and evolution of carbonate reservoirs.The Middle Ordovician Period is considered the archetypical greenhouse interval,and also a critical period in biological evolution.The Middle Darriwilian isotope carbon excursion has been observed in many areas of the world and may be related to the biological explosions caused by decreases in the temperature.The thick carbonate rocks in the fifth member of the Middle Ordovician Majiagou Formation in the Dingbei area of the Ordos Basin were chosen as an example,based on the concentration of major,trace and rare earth elements as well as C,O and Sr isotopic analyses,the paleoenvironment was reconstructed.And its impact on natural gas exploration was analyzed.The results show that the seawater paleotemperature was 29℃,suboxicanoxic paleoredox conditions were observed,and the seawater paleosalinity was high.A large number of plankton in the biological explosion caused a rapid increase in the total organic carbon in carbonate rocks,which provided natural gas as supplemental source rocks.Affected by early meteoric water,the dissolution of gypsum laid the foundation for high-quality reservoirs,and the residual gypsum also further preserved natural gas.This study provides new data for the paleoenvironment and a theoretical basis for further natural gas exploration.

2.0 Ga orogenic graphite deposits and associated 13C-enriched meta-carbonate rocks from South China Craton:Implications for global Lomagundi event

The Lomagundi(-Jatuli)event,characterized by extremely high positive global inorganic carbon isotope excursion at about 2.2 billion years ago,is pivotal in investigating the causes and consequences of great oxygenation event,inventory and sequestration of carbon on the Earth’s surface,evolution of life,and more profoundly tectonic control on Earth’s environment.However,the reasons that caused the isotopic excursion are not resolved yet.Herein,we report the discovery of meta-carbonate rocks with distinct positive carbon isotopic excursion from the Paleoproterozoic continental collision zone of the Kongling Complex,South China Craton.The δ^(13)C_(V-PDB) values for meta-carbonate rocks show positive values in the range from+5.5‰to+11.6‰,whereas the δ^(13)C_(V-PDB) values of associated graphite deposits range from-25.8‰to-9.5‰.Zircon U-Pb-Hf isotopes from zircon-bearing meta-carbonate sample yielded weighted average _(207)Pb/_(206)Pb age of 2001.3±9.5 Ma,with correspondingε_(Hf)(t)range from-7.05 to-3.16,comparable to the values of local 2.9–2.6 Ga basement rocks.Geochemical characteristics of meta-carbonate rocks,such as their rare earth element patterns and the trace element parameters of La,Ce,Eu,and Gd anomalies and Y/Ho ratio,suggest that the carbonate deposition took place in passive continental margin in association with large volumes of organic carbon.The extensive graphite deposits from Kongling Complex in South China Craton,their equivalents in the North China Craton and elsewhere across the globe prove that the burial of ^(12)C-enriched organic carbon has eventually resulted in the global enrichment of ^(13)C in the atmospheric CO_(2),which is recorded in the marine carbonate rocks.Isotopic mass balance estimates indicate that more than half of the organic carbon was buried during the oceanic closure.Hence,the observed global shift could be directly related to the continent collision event in greater China,thus resolving the long-standing paradox of the Lomagundi global positive carbon isotope excursion.Moreover,the present results suggest that orogenesis play a significant role in sequestration of carbon into the continental crust.

Recycled carbon degassed from the Emeishan plume as the potential driver for the major end-Guadalupian carbon cycle perturbations

Massive gas emissions(e.g.,CO_(2),CH_(4) and SO_(2))during the formation of large igneous provinces(LIPs)have been suggested as the primary cause of dramatic climatic change and the consequent ecological collapses and biotic crises.Thermogenic carbon of crustal sediments induced by intrusive magmatism throughout the LIPs is considered as the primary trigger for environmental catastrophe including mass extinction,as illustrated in the case of the Emeishan LIP in Southwest China.Herewe evaluate the Emeishan LIP to address the causal link between carbon degassing and environmental crises during the end-Guadalupian of Middle Permian.An assessment of the carbon flux degassed from recycled oceanic crust in the Emeishan plume shows that recycled oceanic crust contributed significantly to the carbon flux.Using evidence fromcarbonate carbon isotopic records at the Gualupian-Lopingian(G-L)boundary stratotype at Penglaitan of South China,our study suggests that carbon degassed from massive recycled components in the Emeishan plume served as a major end-Guadalupian(Middle Permian)carbon isotope excursion.The model based on the Emeishan LIP also offers new insights into the important role of recycled carbon released from other LIPs in climatic change and mass extinctions,as in the cases of the end-Permian Siberian and end-Cretaceous Deccan Traps.Our work highlights that carbon released from subducted slabs is returned to the atmosphere via upwelling mantle plumes,which could drive global climatic change and mass extinction.

Significant carbon isotope excursions in the Cambrian and their implications for global correlations

The existing δ 13C data in the Cambrian from different regions of the world are analyzed here. There are four well-documented carbon isotope excursions with global significance. In ascending order, they are： （1） a large negative excursion, comparable to ＂BACE＂ （BAsal Cambrian Carbon isotope Excursion） event, which occurs near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary with a magnitude of 4‰-10‰ （PDB）; （2） the ＂ZHUCE＂ （ZHUjiaqing Carbon isotope Excursion） event, a distinct positive excursion （over 5%0） that can be recognized at the Fortunian Stage to Stage 2 transition; （3） another strong negative one, so-called ＂ROECE＂ （Redlichiid-Olenellid Extinction Carbon isotope Excursion） event, shifting at the interval between Series 2 and Series 3, peaking at -3‰--5‰ （PDB）; （4） the famous Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion （SPICE）, which has been widely identified at the base of Furongian Series, Paibian Stage, with an amplitude about 4‰ （PDB）. The four sharp σ13C shifts correlate well with coeval paleoceanographic changes and bioevents. Besides, there are some σ13C excursions from a few sections in previous studies, and more data are required to identify whether they are global or regional ones.

Marine Carbon-Sulfur Biogeochemical Cycles during the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion(SPICE) in the Jiangnan Basin, South China

Global occurrences of Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion（SPICE） during Late Cambrian recorded a significant perturbation in marine carbon cycle, and might have had profound impacts on the biological evolution. In previous studies, SPICE has been reported from the Jiangnan slope belt in South China. To evaluate the bathymetric extent of SPICE, we investigate the limestone samples from the upper Qingxi Formation in the Shaijiang Section in the Jiangnan Basin. Our results show the positive excursions for both carbonate carbon（δ^（13）C） and organic carbon（δ^（13）C_（org）） isotopes, as well as the concurrent positive shifts in sulfur isotopes of carbonate associated sulfate（CAS, δ^（34）S_（CAS）） and pyrite（δ^（34）S_（pyrite））, unequivocally indicating the presence of SPICE in the Jiangnan Basin. A 4‰ increase in δ^（13）C_（carb） of the Qingxi limestone implies the increase of the relative flux of organic carbon burial by a factor of two. Concurrent positive excursions in δ^（34）S_（CAS） and δ^（34）S_（pyrite） have been attributed to the enhanced pyrite burial in oceans with extremely low concentration and spatially heterogeneous isotopic composition of seawater sulfate. Here, we propose that the seawater sulfur isotopic heterogeneity can be generated by volatile organic sulfur compound（VOSC, such as methanethiol and dimethyl sulfide） formation in sulfidic continental margins that were widespread during SPICE. Emission of 32S-enriched VOSC in atmosphere, followed by lateral transportation and aerobic oxidation in atmosphere, and precipitation in open oceans result in a net flux of ^（32）S from continental margins to open oceans, elevating δ^（34）S of seawater sulfate in continental margins. A simple box model indicates that about 35% to 75% of seawater sulfate in continental margins needs to be transported to open oceans via VOSC formation.

Some Evidence for a Possible Extraterrestrial Event at/near Permian-Triassic Boundary

A selection of evidence, including a carbon isotopic excursion, iridium anomaly, fullerenes (C 60 and C 70 ) with trapped noble gases, microspherules and shocked quartz, is discussed in this paper. All the evidence in hand favors the hypothesis that the PTB event was probably related to an extraterrestrial cause, and the impact would lead to great physical change, including large volcanic eruptions on the earth's surface. The ET markers for the CTB event could be considered only as an example, and cannot be taken as a unique standard of an ET event.