Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

28 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Triple oxygen isotope constraints on atmospheric O₂ and biological productivity during the mid-Proterozoic.

ABSTRACT: Reconstructing the history of biological productivity and atmospheric oxygen partial pressure (pO₂) is a fundamental goal of geobiology. Recently, the mass-independent fractionation of oxygen isotopes (O-MIF) has been used as a tool for estimating pO₂ and productivity during the Proterozoic. O-MIF, reported as Δ'¹⁷O, is produced during the formation of ozone and destroyed by isotopic exchange with water by biological and chemical processes. Atmospheric O-MIF can be preserved in the geologic record when pyrite (FeS₂) is oxidized during weathering, and the sulfur is redeposited as sulfate. Here, sedimentary sulfates from the ∼1.4-Ga Sibley Formation are reanalyzed using a detailed one-dimensional photochemical model that includes physical constraints on air-sea gas exchange. Previous analyses of these data concluded that pO₂ at that time was <1% PAL (times the present atmospheric level). Our model shows that the upper limit on pO₂ is essentially unconstrained by these data. Indeed, pO₂ levels below 0.8% PAL are possible only if atmospheric methane was more abundant than today (so that pCO₂ could have been lower) or if the Sibley O-MIF data were diluted by reprocessing before the sulfates were deposited. Our model also shows that, contrary to previous assertions, marine productivity cannot be reliably constrained by the O-MIF data because the exchange of molecular oxygen (O₂) between the atmosphere and surface ocean is controlled more by air-sea gas transfer rates than by biological productivity. Improved estimates of pCO₂ and/or improved proxies for Δ'¹⁷O of atmospheric O₂ would allow tighter constraints to be placed on mid-Proterozoic pO₂.

SUBMITTER: Liu P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8713798 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Dynamic model constraints on oxygen-17 depletion in atmospheric O2 after a snowball Earth.

Project description:A large perturbation in atmospheric CO2 and O2 or bioproductivity will result in a drastic pulse of (17)O change in atmospheric O2, as seen in the Marinoan Oxygen-17 Depletion (MOSD) event in the immediate aftermath of a global deglaciation 635 Mya. The exact nature of the perturbation, however, is debated. Here we constructed a coupled, four-box, and quick-response biosphere-atmosphere model to examine both the steady state and dynamics of the MOSD event. Our model shows that the ultra-high CO2 concentrations proposed by the "snowball' Earth hypothesis produce a typical MOSD duration of less than 10(6) y and a magnitude of (17)O depletion reaching approximately -35‰. Both numbers are in remarkable agreement with geological constraints from South China and Svalbard. Moderate CO2 and low O2 concentration (e.g., 3,200 parts per million by volume and 0.01 bar, respectively) could produce distinct sulfate (17)O depletion only if postglacial marine bioproductivity was impossibly low. Our dynamic model also suggests that a snowball in which the ocean is isolated from the atmosphere by a continuous ice cover may be distinguished from one in which cracks in the ice permit ocean-atmosphere exchange only if partial pressure of atmospheric O2 is larger than 0.02 bar during the snowball period and records of weathering-derived sulfate are available for the very first few tens of thousands of years after the onset of the meltdown. In any case, a snowball Earth is a precondition for the observed MOSD event.

| S-EPMC3767505 | biostudies-literature

Petrographic carbon in ancient sediments constrains Proterozoic Era atmospheric oxygen levels.

Project description:Oxygen concentration defines the chemical structure of Earth's ecosystems while it also fuels the metabolism of aerobic organisms. As different aerobes have different oxygen requirements, the evolution of oxygen levels through time has likely impacted both environmental chemistry and the history of life. Understanding the relationship between atmospheric oxygen levels, the chemical environment, and life, however, is hampered by uncertainties in the history of oxygen levels. We report over 5,700 Raman analyses of organic matter from nine geological formations spanning in time from 742 to 1,729 Ma. We find that organic matter was effectively oxidized during weathering and little was recycled into marine sediments. Indeed, during this time interval, organic matter was as efficiently oxidized during weathering as it is now. From these observations, we constrain minimum atmospheric oxygen levels to between 2 to 24% of present levels from the late Paleoproterozoic Era into the Neoproterozoic Era. Indeed, our results reveal that eukaryote evolution, including early animal evolution, was not likely hindered by oxygen through this time interval. Our results also show that due to efficient organic recycling during weathering, carbon cycle dynamics can be assessed directly from the sediment carbon record.

| S-EPMC8201950 | biostudies-literature

Constraints on Paleoproterozoic atmospheric oxygen levels.

Project description:The oxygenation of Earth's surface environment dramatically altered key biological and geochemical cycles and ultimately ushered in the rise of an ecologically diverse biosphere. However, atmospheric oxygen partial pressures (pO2) estimates for large swaths of the Precambrian remain intensely debated. Here we evaluate and explore the use of carbonate cerium (Ce) anomalies (Ce/Ce*) as a quantitative atmospheric pO2 proxy and provide estimates of Proterozoic pO2 using marine carbonates from a unique Precambrian carbonate succession-the Paleoproterozoic Pethei Group. In contrast to most previous work, we measure Ce/Ce* on marine carbonate precipitates that formed in situ across a depth gradient, building on previous detailed sedimentology and stratigraphy to constrain the paleo-depth of each sample. Measuring Ce/Ce* across a full platform to basin depth gradient, we found only minor depleted Ce anomalies restricted to the platform and upper slope facies. We combine these results with a Ce oxidation model to provide a quantitative constraint on atmospheric pO2 1.87 billion years ago (Ga). Our results suggest Paleoproterozoic atmospheric oxygen concentrations were low, near 0.1% of the present atmospheric level. This work provides another crucial line of empirical evidence that atmospheric oxygen levels returned to low concentrations following the Lomagundi Event, and remained low enough for large portions of the Proterozoic to have impacted the ecology of the earliest complex organisms.

| S-EPMC6094116 | biostudies-literature

Atmospheric oxygen regulation at low Proterozoic levels by incomplete oxidative weathering of sedimentary organic carbon.

Project description:It is unclear why atmospheric oxygen remained trapped at low levels for more than 1.5 billion years following the Paleoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event. Here, we use models for erosion, weathering and biogeochemical cycling to show that this can be explained by the tectonic recycling of previously accumulated sedimentary organic carbon, combined with the oxygen sensitivity of oxidative weathering. Our results indicate a strong negative feedback regime when atmospheric oxygen concentration is of order pO2∼0.1 PAL (present atmospheric level), but that stability is lost at pO2<0.01 PAL. Within these limits, the carbonate carbon isotope (δ13C) record becomes insensitive to changes in organic carbon burial rate, due to counterbalancing changes in the weathering of isotopically light organic carbon. This can explain the lack of secular trend in the Precambrian δ13C record, and reopens the possibility that increased biological productivity and resultant organic carbon burial drove the Great Oxidation Event.

| S-EPMC5296660 | biostudies-literature

Triple oxygen isotope insight into terrestrial pyrite oxidation.

Project description:The mass-independent minor oxygen isotope compositions (?'17O) of atmospheric O2 and [Formula: see text] are primarily regulated by their relative partial pressures, [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] Pyrite oxidation during chemical weathering on land consumes [Formula: see text] and generates sulfate that is carried to the ocean by rivers. The ?'17O values of marine sulfate deposits have thus been proposed to quantitatively track ancient atmospheric conditions. This proxy assumes direct [Formula: see text] incorporation into terrestrial pyrite oxidation-derived sulfate, but a mechanistic understanding of pyrite oxidation-including oxygen sources-in weathering environments remains elusive. To address this issue, we present sulfate source estimates and ?'17O measurements from modern rivers transecting the Annapurna Himalaya, Nepal. Sulfate in high-elevation headwaters is quantitatively sourced by pyrite oxidation, but resulting ?'17O values imply no direct tropospheric [Formula: see text] incorporation. Rather, our results necessitate incorporation of oxygen atoms from alternative, 17O-enriched sources such as reactive oxygen species. Sulfate ?'17O decreases significantly when moving into warm, low-elevation tributaries draining the same bedrock lithology. We interpret this to reflect overprinting of the pyrite oxidation-derived ?'17O anomaly by microbial sulfate reduction and reoxidation, consistent with previously described major sulfur and oxygen isotope relationships. The geologic application of sulfate ?'17O as a proxy for past [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] should consider both 1) alternative oxygen sources during pyrite oxidation and 2) secondary overprinting by microbial recycling.

| S-EPMC7149429 | biostudies-literature

Global 3-D Simulations of the Triple Oxygen Isotope Signature Δ<sup>17</sup>O in Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>.

Project description:The triple oxygen isotope signature Δ17O in atmospheric CO2, also known as its "17O excess," has been proposed as a tracer for gross primary production (the gross uptake of CO2 by vegetation through photosynthesis). We present the first global 3-D model simulations for Δ17O in atmospheric CO2 together with a detailed model description and sensitivity analyses. In our 3-D model framework we include the stratospheric source of Δ17O in CO2 and the surface sinks from vegetation, soils, ocean, biomass burning, and fossil fuel combustion. The effect of oxidation of atmospheric CO on Δ17O in CO2 is also included in our model. We estimate that the global mean Δ17O (defined as Δ 17 O = ln ( δ 17 O + 1 ) - λ RL · ln ( δ 18 O + 1 ) with λ RL = 0.5229) of CO2 in the lowest 500 m of the atmosphere is 39.6 per meg, which is ∼20 per meg lower than estimates from existing box models. We compare our model results with a measured stratospheric Δ17O in CO2 profile from Sodankylä (Finland), which shows good agreement. In addition, we compare our model results with tropospheric measurements of Δ17O in CO2 from Göttingen (Germany) and Taipei (Taiwan), which shows some agreement but we also find substantial discrepancies that are subsequently discussed. Finally, we show model results for Zotino (Russia), Mauna Loa (United States), Manaus (Brazil), and South Pole, which we propose as possible locations for future measurements of Δ17O in tropospheric CO2 that can help to further increase our understanding of the global budget of Δ17O in atmospheric CO2.

| S-EPMC6774299 | biostudies-literature

State-to-state quantum dynamics of O + O2 isotope exchange reactions reveals nonstatistical behavior at atmospheric conditions.

Project description:The O + O(2) exchange reaction is a prerequisite for the formation of ozone in Earth's atmosphere. We report here state-to-state differential and integral cross sections for several O + O(2) isotope-exchange reactions obtained by dynamically exact quantum scattering calculations at collision energies relevant to atmospheric conditions. These reactions are shown to be highly nonstatistical, evidenced by dominant forward scattering and deviation of the integral cross section from the statistical limit. Mechanistic analyses revealed that the nonstatistical channel is facilitated by short-lived osculating resonances. The theoretical results provided an in-depth interpretation of a recent molecular beam experiment of the exchange reaction and shed light on the initial step of ozone recombination.

| S-EPMC2818940 | biostudies-literature

Ice core evidence for atmospheric oxygen decline since the Mid-Pleistocene transition.

Project description:[Figure: see text].

| S-EPMC8673763 | biostudies-literature

Revised microbial and photochemical triple-oxygen isotope effects improve marine gross oxygen production estimates.

Project description:The biogeochemical fluxes that cycle oxygen (O2) play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate and habitability. Triple-oxygen isotope (TOI) compositions of marine dissolved O2 are considered a robust tool for tracing oxygen cycling and quantifying gross photosynthetic O2 production. This method assumes that photosynthesis, microbial respiration, and gas exchange with the atmosphere are the primary influences on dissolved O2 content, and that they have predictable, fixed isotope effects. Despite its widespread use, there are major elements of this approach that remain uncharacterized, including the TOI dynamics of respiration by marine heterotrophic bacteria and abiotic O2 sinks such as the photochemical oxidation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Here, we report the TOI fractionation for O2 utilization by two model marine heterotrophs and by abiotic photo-oxidation of representative terrestrial and coastal marine DOC. We demonstrate that TOI slopes associated with these processes span a significant range of the mass-dependent domain (λ = 0.499 to 0.521). A sensitivity analysis reveals that even under moderate productivity and photo-oxidation scenarios, true gross oxygen production may deviate from previous estimates by more than 20% in either direction. By considering a broader suite of oxygen cycle reactions, our findings challenge current gross oxygen production estimates and highlight several paths forward to better understanding the marine oxygen and carbon cycles.

| S-EPMC9802178 | biostudies-literature

Carbon isotope evidence for the global physiology of Proterozoic cyanobacteria.

Project description:Ancestral cyanobacteria are assumed to be prominent primary producers after the Great Oxidation Event [≈2.4 to 2.0 billion years (Ga) ago], but carbon isotope fractionation by extant marine cyanobacteria (α-cyanobacteria) is inconsistent with isotopic records of carbon fixation by primary producers in the mid-Proterozoic eon (1.8 to 1.0 Ga ago). To resolve this disagreement, we quantified carbon isotope fractionation by a wild-type planktic β-cyanobacterium (Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002), an engineered Proterozoic analog lacking a CO2-concentrating mechanism, and cyanobacterial mats. At mid-Proterozoic pH and pCO2 values, carbon isotope fractionation by the wild-type β-cyanobacterium is fully consistent with the Proterozoic carbon isotope record, suggesting that cyanobacteria with CO2-concentrating mechanisms were apparently the major primary producers in the pelagic Proterozoic ocean, despite atmospheric CO2 levels up to 100 times modern. The selectively permeable microcompartments central to cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanisms ("carboxysomes") likely emerged to shield rubisco from O2 during the Great Oxidation Event.

| S-EPMC7787495 | biostudies-literature