Title: Upwelling-driven high organic production in the late Ediacaran
Author: Fuencisla Cañadas*, Dominic Papineau, Thomas J. Algeo & Chao Li*
Journal: COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
Date of Publication:Aug 27 2024
Volume: 5(1)
Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01632-z
Abstract：The Ediacaran ocean (635-541 million years ago) is typically viewed as a stagnant, redox-stratified ocean with low phosphorus availability. However, this contradicts the high total organic carbon (up to 15 wt%) recorded in the upper Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in South China. Here, we present a quantitative reconstruction of primary productivity and sediment total organic carbon using basin-scale simulations based on various redox-nutrient scenarios. Our results indicate that oceanic upwelling was the primary driver of enhanced primary productivity, with estimates over 2.5 times the modern ocean's average, providing quantitative evidence for oceanic circulation in the Ediacaran Nanhua Basin. Our results also indicate the development of spatially linked but opposing redox trends, i.e., a 'redox anticouple', whereby the expansion of the oxic surface layer occurred concurrently with intensification of deep-water anoxia due to enhanced PP in surface and its consumption of oxidants in underlying waters. This model may explain the conflicting redox records across the Nanhua Basin. Our findings explain the unusually high rates of organic matter production and preservation in the low-pO2 Ediacaran ocean and provide a mechanism for its progressive oxygenation. "Increased organic matter production during the late Ediacaran is likely the result of an enhanced rate of primary production caused by a high rate of oceanic upwelling, suggests a basin-scale simulation under different environmental conditions, for the Doushantuo Formation in South China."
Key Words: DOUSHANTUO FORMATION ; OCEAN OXYGENATION ; YANGTZE PLATFORM ; ISOTOPE EXCURSIONS ; CARBON ; PHOSPHORUS ; EVOLUTION ; ORIGIN ; PRESERVATION ; EVENT
