shuram carbon isotope excursion

Uncovering the largest negative carbon isotope excursion in Earth history

• Published: 26 January 2024
• Volume 67 , pages 885–889, ( 2024 )

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• Haiyang Wang 1 , 2 , 3 , 4  

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Acknowledgements

This contribution was made possible thanks to the discussions and support of our colleagues in China and abroad (with special thanks to Prof. Thomas ALGEO at University of Cincinnati), as well as all the members of the International Center for Sedimentary and Biogeochemistry Research at Chengdu University of Technology. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 41821001, 42130208, 41825019, 41888101, 42103072) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFF0800100) .

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Key Laboratory of Deep-time Geography and Environment Reconstruction and Applications of Ministry of Natural Resources, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

International Center for Sedimentary Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry Research, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

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Li, C., Wang, H. Uncovering the largest negative carbon isotope excursion in Earth history. Sci. China Earth Sci. 67 , 885–889 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-023-1227-5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-023-1227-5

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The Ediacaran Shuram Excursion - new research published in Nature.

24 January 2022

This research investigates organic-rich shales deposited in South China during the late Ediacaran Period (ca. 560-551 Ma) and provides an exceptional opportunity to understand the evolution of the paleoenvironmental conditions during this period.

Picture footnote: Modern global primary productivity levels. The production of photosynthetic organic matter increases and decreases coinciding with major Earth system processes. Copyright ©: Ocean Colour CCI, Plymouth Marine Laboratory/ESA. 

Interestingly, the most negative carbon isotope excursion in Earth history, known as the Shuram excursion, is recorded in these deposits. Results obtained from carbon and nitrogen isotopes, together with Raman structural heterogeneities observed in the organic matter, described a dynamic environmental scenario where a new equilibrium in the C and N cycles was established. In this new scenario, high levels of primary production of organic matter produced a change from heterotrophic to autotrophic metabolic dominance, which became the main source of organic matter in sediments and modulated the recovery of the Shuram excursion to pre-excursion values.

Dr Fuencisla Cañadas  writes about her esearch:

“ My research includes early Earth paleoenvironmental reconstructions to understand the interplay between major environmental changes and biological evolution. I seek to constrain the environmental conditions required for life to emerge and evolve, and its applicability and astrobiological implications on other terrestrial planets, like Mars.

Currently, I’m a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Astrobiology (Spain) working on the MaPLE (Mars Phosphorus and Life) project which investigates the P and Fe cycles evolution and nutrient availability during the Mesoarchean (~ 3 Ga) in a carbonate and iron-rich environment. This environment is used as analogue for the Jezero crater, in Mars, where the rover Perseverance, from the NASA Mars 2020 mission, searches for signs of ancient life.

Could carbonates on early Mars have accumulated enough dissolved P to become favourable environments for the emergence and evolution of life? I hope to answer this question soon!

• Extensive primary production promoted the recovery of the Ediacaran Shuram excursion. Cañadas, F., Papineau, D., Leng, M.J. et al. Nature Commun 13, 148 (2022). DOI
• Dr Fuencisla Cañadas PhD profile , lead author of the study completed her study at UCL under the supervision of Dr D. Papineau. 
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• Published: 02 September 2019

Unique Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions sustained by coupled evaporite dissolution and pyrite burial

• Graham A. Shields   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7828-3966 1 ,
• Benjamin J. W. Mills   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9141-0931 2 ,
• Maoyan Zhu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7327-9856 3 , 4 ,
• Timothy D. Raub 5 ,
• Stuart J. Daines 6 &
• Timothy M. Lenton 6  

Nature Geoscience volume  12 ,  pages 823–827 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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• Carbon cycle
• Palaeoceanography

The Neoproterozoic era witnessed a succession of biological innovations that culminated in diverse animal body plans and behaviours during the Ediacaran–Cambrian radiations. Intriguingly, this interval is also marked by perturbations to the global carbon cycle, as evidenced by extreme fluctuations in climate and carbon isotopes. The Neoproterozoic isotope record has defied parsimonious explanation because sustained 12 C-enrichment (low δ 13 C) in seawater seems to imply that substantially more oxygen was consumed by organic carbon oxidation than could possibly have been available. We propose a solution to this problem, in which carbon and oxygen cycles can maintain dynamic equilibrium during negative δ 13 C excursions when surplus oxidant is generated through bacterial reduction of sulfate that originates from evaporite weathering. Coupling of evaporite dissolution with pyrite burial drives a positive feedback loop whereby net oxidation of marine organic carbon can sustain greenhouse forcing of chemical weathering, nutrient input and ocean margin euxinia. Our proposed framework is particularly applicable to the late Ediacaran ‘Shuram’ isotope excursion that directly preceded the emergence of energetic metazoan metabolisms during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition. Here we show that non-steady-state sulfate dynamics contributed to climate change, episodic ocean oxygenation and opportunistic radiations of aerobic life during the Neoproterozoic era.

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The authors declare that data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and Supplementary Information .

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MATLAB code for COPSE is freely available at https://github.com/sjdaines/COPSE/releases .

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NERC-NSFC programme ‘Biosphere Evolution, Transitions and Resilience’ through grant NE/P013643/1 to G.A.S. and M.Z. and NE/P013651/1 to T.M.L., grant NE/R010129/1 to G.A.S. and B.J.W.M., a University of Leeds Academic Fellowship to B.J.W.M., and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41661134048) and Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB18000000) to M.Z.

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Graham A. Shields

School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Benjamin J. W. Mills

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

Timothy D. Raub

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G.A.S., B.J.W.M. and M.Z. conceived the project. B.J.W.M. created the model, which was revised from previous versions created by T.M.L., B.J.W.M. and S.J.D. All authors contributed to data interpretation and the writing of the manuscript.

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Shields, G.A., Mills, B.J.W., Zhu, M. et al. Unique Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions sustained by coupled evaporite dissolution and pyrite burial. Nat. Geosci. 12 , 823–827 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0434-3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0434-3

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Dates for the Shuram excursion

One of the biggest conundrums of the Neoproterozoic is the cause of the 'Shuram' carbon isotope excursion, the largest negative carbonate carbon isotope excursion in the geologic record. In collaboration with colleagues at Yale, MIT and Dartmouth, we have helped produced new radiometric constraints on the Shuram excursion. The paper, which was published in PNAS by Alan Rooney and can be accessed here , demonstrates that the excursion occurred at the same time on multiple paleocontinents, helping constrain possible causal mechanisms. These ages also provide surprising new constraints on the evolution of the Ediacaran biota, demonstrating that the first deep-water Ediacaran organisms originated after the Gaskiers glaciation and before the Shuram excursion.

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Authigenic origin for a massive negative carbon isotope excursion

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Lei Jiang , Noah Planavsky , Mingyu Zhao , Wei Liu , Xiangli Wang; Authigenic origin for a massive negative carbon isotope excursion. Geology 2019;; 47 (2): 115–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G45709.1

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The Neoproterozoic contains several pronounced negative carbon isotope excursions that have been the topic of intense debate. The foremost of these, the “Shuram excursion,” represents the largest known carbon isotope excursion in Earth’s history. These negative carbon isotope excursions have been variably interpreted to record primary seawater values and massive carbon cycle perturbations, diagenetic alteration, or porewater authigenic carbonate formation. Although there are abundant examples of recent and Phanerozoic authigenic carbonates with markedly negative carbonate carbon isotope values, these carbonates are clearly identifiable as diagenetic products, making it difficult to link them to Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions. Here, we report the occurrence of a Middle Triassic, shallow-marine and lagoonal succession that contains a negative carbon isotope excursion in fine crystalline and peloidal carbonates that is comparable—in terms of its magnitude and stratigraphic structure and variability—to several Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursions. A coupled petrographic and multiple isotope (C-O-Sr-U) approach suggests that the excursion was driven by carbonate precipitation within anoxic porewaters. Extensive carbon precipitation in the upper portion of the sediment pile was likely linked to inhibited bioturbation and a high background carbonate saturation state in an evaporative setting. The discovery of a Phanerozoic authigenic carbon isotope excursion bolsters the case that some stratigraphically continuous Neoproterozoic negative carbon isotope excursions may be tied to carbonate formation within the sediment pile.

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They filmed it because they knew that the camera man never dies.

Yet another terrorist attack done by these Islamic state fuckheads, rest in peace for the people killed. Hopefully one day Islamic state will finally dissolve and all their members face the consequences, Islamic state are fake Muslim’s that are a complete bastardisation of religion. Hopefully the Islamic state members burn in hell one day.

these neygaas really want ww3☠️🤫🧏‍♂️

“Remember, no russian” -Makarov

I have seen the videos of the tortured IS members by the Russian government, and I just have to say I don’t think the four convicts or IS itself expected that tortured like that would be a part of the consequences! My theory is that IS members have gotten so used to planning terrorist attacks in many western countries where the police aren’t corrupt and sadistic. So in the end, they kind of assumed that, at worst, it would only result in a long jail time and maybe a smack on the bottom. Instead, their members got their ears sliced …  Read more »

And for those who say they are innocent, that is sadly a possibility…. And it is also sadly a fact that many innocent will be punished for this crime. However, do note that IS have published body-cam footage of the attack, so it is confirmed they are behind it. And they also published a picture of the four accused and they wear the same clothes and markings as the accused in the video. In the end, it might have been an inside job. Russia is big and corrupt. I don’t have a problem believing that IS has infiltrated a branch …  Read more »

Lastly, I rather not post sources since I’m not sure if posting links breaks the rules of seegore. But they can be found with a bit of duckduckgo and telegram searches.

Russian people do not deserve this. Makes me sick to my stomach.

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• Guided tour

Moscow at Night: City Sightseeing Tour by Car/Bus

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When the Sun begins to set, the myriad lights and firefly-like cars buzzing around on the wide highways see Moscow burst into life. This unreal sight is best enjoyed from the height of the capital’s famous viewpoints, Moscow in the evening is truly, truly spectacular. We invite you with pleasure to see the magic of Moscow under the bright night lights!

On this tour, you can expect to see incredible views and the magical transformation sunset has on Moscow’s most iconic buildings, the highlights of which being:

• The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a more solemn yet festive sight with its dimly lit lanterns.
• Basil's Cathedral’s fun and colourful onion domes give off the aura of a mysterious castle, growing out of the darkness of the imposing State Duma building nearby.
• The spectacularly illuminated Bolshoi Theatre and the Alexander Garden walkway, itself painted in a whimsical pattern of shadows.
• The legendary Lubyanka Square, steeped in secrecy; just its hearing its name after dark is enough to trigger goosebumps, given its murky past.
• The House on the Embankment, where old legends are revived and ghostly silhouettes lurk.
• The Russian State Library, where vague shadows have been seen flickering in its windows. Who knows, could this be the legendary bibliologist Rubakin protecting the works of literary art that lie within its walls?
• Incredible views from the height of the observation deck at Sparrow Hills. The candle-like skyscrapers of "Moscow-City" shoot into the night in a blaze of glorious light, all reflected back to the observer by the dark waters of the Moscow River. Lest not forget the blood-red fountains on Poklonnaya Hill! An absolutely fantastic spectacle which cannot be seen by day.

Our expert guides will share one thousand and one interesting stories about the aforementioned and other sights, whilst at the same time detailing the vast history of our beautiful capital, past and present.

Come with us and treat yourself to an unforgettable experience amongst the bright lights if Moscow!

The cost of an excursion with a personal guide for 1 person

Meeting point We'll pick you up at your hotel

St. Basil's Cathedral

House on the Embankment

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Vorobyovy Hills

Poklonnaya Hill

Moscow-City

Alexander garden

Russian State Library

Bolshoi Theatre

End of the tour

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• Excursion Moscow at Night: City Sightseeing Tour by Car/Bus
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A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

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