Stepwise oxygenation of early Cambrian ocean controls early metazoan diversification

摘要

The Ediacaran-Cambrian transition is a critical period in Earth history, during which both marine environment and life experienced drastic changes. It was suggested that pervasive oxygenation and associated chemical changes in the ocean have potentially triggered the rapid diversification of early Cambrian metazoans. The timing and process of ocean oxygenation, however, have not been well constrained. In this paper, an integrated study was conducted on the lower Cambrian Niutitang (NTT) Formation in Siduping area, western Hunan, which was paleogeographically located at shelf margin-upper slope setting of the Yangtze Platform. Using ICP-MS, Element Analyzer, FESEM, EDS and XRD techniques, the abundance of RSEs (redox sensitive elements), patterns of RSEs distribution, pyrite morphology, TOC (total organic carbon), TS (total sulfur), Spy (pyrite sulfur) as well as N and P contents were investigated systematically. The results show that during the NTT deposition, bottom seawater in the study area experienced a complicated evolution, with a dynamic alternation of three ferruginous and three euxinic intervals, and suboxic-oxic conditions occurring only in the latest Cambrian Stage 3. Comparison with relevant sections reported previously from other facies belts within the Yangtze Platform shows that the seawater oxygenation was a progressive process expanding from shallow to deep-water areas in time. Shallow-water platform area became oxygenated in the late Cambrian Stage 2, shelf margin area in the late Cambrian Stage 3, and the deep-water basin remained ferruginous until the latest Cambrian Stage 3, when it became euxinic. Sediment Mo/TOC, U/TOC ratios increased from bottom to top in the section, coupled with elevated Mn, N and P secular trends, likely indicating an overall enhancement of seawater oxygenation. The spatial-temporal distribution and increased paleoecologic complexity of major fossil groups on the Yangtze Platform over time coincide with the seawater oxyge