Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event

Pascal Philippot; Janaína N. Ávila; Bryan A. Killingsworth; Svetlana Tessalina; Franck Baton; Tom Caquineau; Elodie Muller; Ernesto Pecoits; Pierre Cartigny; Stefan V. Lalonde; Trevor R. Ireland; Christophe Thomazo; Martin J. Van Kranendonk; Vincent Busigny

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04621-x

Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event

Pascal Philippot, Janaína N. Ávila, Bryan A. Killingsworth, Svetlana Tessalina, Franck Baton, Tom Caquineau, Elodie Muller, Ernesto Pecoits, Pierre Cartigny, Stefan V. Lalonde, Trevor R. Ireland, Christophe Thomazo, Martin J. Van Kranendonk, Vincent Busigny

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80 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) has been defined as the time interval when sufficient atmospheric oxygen accumulated to prevent the generation and preservation of mass-independent fractionation of sulphur isotopes (MIF-S) in sedimentary rocks. Existing correlations suggest that the GOE was rapid and globally synchronous. Here we apply sulphur isotope analysis of diagenetic sulphides combined with U-Pb and Re-Os geochronology to document the sulphur cycle evolution in Western Australia spanning the GOE. Our data indicate that, from ~2.45 Gyr to beyond 2.31 Gyr, MIF-S was preserved in sulphides punctuated by several episodes of MIF-S disappearance. These results establish the MIF-S record as asynchronous between South Africa, North America and Australia, argue for regional-scale modulation of MIF-S memory effects due to oxidative weathering after the onset of the GOE, and suggest that the current paradigm of placing the GOE at 2.33-2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa should be re-evaluated.

Original language	English
Article number	2245
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04621-x
Publication status	Published - Dec 1 2018
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Physics and Astronomy(all)

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Philippot, P., Ávila, J. N., Killingsworth, B. A., Tessalina, S., Baton, F., Caquineau, T., Muller, E., Pecoits, E., Cartigny, P., Lalonde, S. V., Ireland, T. R., Thomazo, C., Van Kranendonk, M. J., & Busigny, V. (2018). Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event. Nature communications, 9(1), Article 2245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04621-x

Philippot, P, Ávila, JN, Killingsworth, BA, Tessalina, S, Baton, F, Caquineau, T, Muller, E, Pecoits, E, Cartigny, P, Lalonde, SV, Ireland, TR, Thomazo, C, Van Kranendonk, MJ & Busigny, V 2018, 'Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event', Nature communications, vol. 9, no. 1, 2245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04621-x

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title = "Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event",

abstract = "The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) has been defined as the time interval when sufficient atmospheric oxygen accumulated to prevent the generation and preservation of mass-independent fractionation of sulphur isotopes (MIF-S) in sedimentary rocks. Existing correlations suggest that the GOE was rapid and globally synchronous. Here we apply sulphur isotope analysis of diagenetic sulphides combined with U-Pb and Re-Os geochronology to document the sulphur cycle evolution in Western Australia spanning the GOE. Our data indicate that, from ~2.45 Gyr to beyond 2.31 Gyr, MIF-S was preserved in sulphides punctuated by several episodes of MIF-S disappearance. These results establish the MIF-S record as asynchronous between South Africa, North America and Australia, argue for regional-scale modulation of MIF-S memory effects due to oxidative weathering after the onset of the GOE, and suggest that the current paradigm of placing the GOE at 2.33-2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa should be re-evaluated.",

author = "Pascal Philippot and {\'A}vila, {Jana{\'i}na N.} and Killingsworth, {Bryan A.} and Svetlana Tessalina and Franck Baton and Tom Caquineau and Elodie Muller and Ernesto Pecoits and Pierre Cartigny and Lalonde, {Stefan V.} and Ireland, {Trevor R.} and Christophe Thomazo and {Van Kranendonk}, {Martin J.} and Vincent Busigny",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cit{\'e} (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Plan{\'e}tologie and the S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Funding Information: We thank the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, The University of New South Wales and the Geological Survey of Western Australia for supporting the Turee Creek Drilling Project. This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cit{\'e} (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Plan{\'e}tologie and the S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cit? (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Plan?tologie and the S?o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-018-04621-x",

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T1 - Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event

AU - Philippot, Pascal

AU - Ávila, Janaína N.

AU - Killingsworth, Bryan A.

AU - Tessalina, Svetlana

AU - Baton, Franck

AU - Caquineau, Tom

AU - Muller, Elodie

AU - Pecoits, Ernesto

AU - Cartigny, Pierre

AU - Lalonde, Stefan V.

AU - Ireland, Trevor R.

AU - Thomazo, Christophe

AU - Van Kranendonk, Martin J.

AU - Busigny, Vincent

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cité (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Planétologie and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Funding Information: We thank the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, The University of New South Wales and the Geological Survey of Western Australia for supporting the Turee Creek Drilling Project. This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cité (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Planétologie and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the UnivEarths Labex Programme at Sorbonne Paris Cit? (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), the Programme National de Plan?tologie and the S?o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2015/16235-2). B.A.K. acknowledges support from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 708117. J.N.A. and T.R.I. acknowledge support from ARC DP140103393. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s).

PY - 2018/12/1

Y1 - 2018/12/1

N2 - The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) has been defined as the time interval when sufficient atmospheric oxygen accumulated to prevent the generation and preservation of mass-independent fractionation of sulphur isotopes (MIF-S) in sedimentary rocks. Existing correlations suggest that the GOE was rapid and globally synchronous. Here we apply sulphur isotope analysis of diagenetic sulphides combined with U-Pb and Re-Os geochronology to document the sulphur cycle evolution in Western Australia spanning the GOE. Our data indicate that, from ~2.45 Gyr to beyond 2.31 Gyr, MIF-S was preserved in sulphides punctuated by several episodes of MIF-S disappearance. These results establish the MIF-S record as asynchronous between South Africa, North America and Australia, argue for regional-scale modulation of MIF-S memory effects due to oxidative weathering after the onset of the GOE, and suggest that the current paradigm of placing the GOE at 2.33-2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa should be re-evaluated.

AB - The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) has been defined as the time interval when sufficient atmospheric oxygen accumulated to prevent the generation and preservation of mass-independent fractionation of sulphur isotopes (MIF-S) in sedimentary rocks. Existing correlations suggest that the GOE was rapid and globally synchronous. Here we apply sulphur isotope analysis of diagenetic sulphides combined with U-Pb and Re-Os geochronology to document the sulphur cycle evolution in Western Australia spanning the GOE. Our data indicate that, from ~2.45 Gyr to beyond 2.31 Gyr, MIF-S was preserved in sulphides punctuated by several episodes of MIF-S disappearance. These results establish the MIF-S record as asynchronous between South Africa, North America and Australia, argue for regional-scale modulation of MIF-S memory effects due to oxidative weathering after the onset of the GOE, and suggest that the current paradigm of placing the GOE at 2.33-2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa should be re-evaluated.

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Globally asynchronous sulphur isotope signals require re-definition of the Great Oxidation Event

Abstract

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