Atmosphere-ocean oxygen and productivity dynamics during early animal radiations
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Atmosphere-ocean oxygen and productivity dynamics during early animal radiations. / Dahl, Tais W.; Connelly, James N.; Li, Da; Kouchinsky, Artem; Gill, Benjamin C.; Porter, Susannah; Maloof, Adam C.; Bizzarro, Martin.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, No. 39, 2019, p. 19352-19361.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Atmosphere-ocean oxygen and productivity dynamics during early animal radiations
AU - Dahl, Tais W.
AU - Connelly, James N.
AU - Li, Da
AU - Kouchinsky, Artem
AU - Gill, Benjamin C.
AU - Porter, Susannah
AU - Maloof, Adam C.
AU - Bizzarro, Martin
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The proliferation of large, motile animals 540 to 520 Ma has been linked to both rising and declining O2 levels on Earth. To explore this conundrum, we reconstruct the global extent of seafloor oxygenation at approximately submillion-year resolution based on uranium isotope compositions of 187 marine carbonates samples from China, Siberia, and Morocco, and simulate O2 levels in the atmosphere and surface oceans using a mass balance model constrained by carbon, sulfur, and strontium isotopes in the same sedimentary successions. Our results point to a dynamically viable and highly variable state of atmosphere-ocean oxygenation with 2 massive expansions of seafloor anoxia in the aftermath of a prolonged interval of declining atmospheric pO2 levels. Although animals began diversifying beforehand, there were relatively few new appearances during these dramatic fluctuations in seafloor oxygenation. When O2 levels again rose, it occurred in concert with predicted high rates of photosynthetic production, both of which may have fueled more energy to predators and their armored prey in the evolving marine ecosystem.
AB - The proliferation of large, motile animals 540 to 520 Ma has been linked to both rising and declining O2 levels on Earth. To explore this conundrum, we reconstruct the global extent of seafloor oxygenation at approximately submillion-year resolution based on uranium isotope compositions of 187 marine carbonates samples from China, Siberia, and Morocco, and simulate O2 levels in the atmosphere and surface oceans using a mass balance model constrained by carbon, sulfur, and strontium isotopes in the same sedimentary successions. Our results point to a dynamically viable and highly variable state of atmosphere-ocean oxygenation with 2 massive expansions of seafloor anoxia in the aftermath of a prolonged interval of declining atmospheric pO2 levels. Although animals began diversifying beforehand, there were relatively few new appearances during these dramatic fluctuations in seafloor oxygenation. When O2 levels again rose, it occurred in concert with predicted high rates of photosynthetic production, both of which may have fueled more energy to predators and their armored prey in the evolving marine ecosystem.
KW - Cambrian explosion
KW - Global biogeochemical cycles
KW - Oxygenation
KW - Stable isotopes
KW - Uranium
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1901178116
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1901178116
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31501322
AN - SCOPUS:85072632935
VL - 116
SP - 19352
EP - 19361
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 39
ER -
ID: 229031923