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

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

101 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 - 1 Dec 2018

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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

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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",

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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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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

PY - 2018/12/1

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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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