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7.10 Chemical Characteristics of Sediments and Seawater

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Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation

Part of the book series: Frontiers in Earth Sciences ((FRONTIERS))

Abstract

The transition from an anoxic to oxygenated atmosphere was arguably the most dramatic change in the history of the Earth. This “Great Oxidation Event” (Holland 2006) transformed the biogeochemical cycles of the elements by imposing an oxidative step in the cycles, creating strong redox gradients in the terrestrial and marine realms that energised microbial metabolism. Although much past research was focused on establishing when the rise of atmospheric oxygen took place, recognition that substantial mass-independent fraction (MIF) of the sulphur isotopes is restricted to the time interval before 2.45 Ga and requires an anoxic atmosphere (Farquhar et al. 2000, 2007; Mojzsis et al. 2003; Ono et al. 2003; Bekker et al. 2004) argues the atmosphere became permanently oxygenated at this time (Pavlov and Kasting 2002). A false-start to the modern aerobic biosphere and a “whiff” of atmospheric oxygen (Anbar et al. 2007) may have occurred in the latest Archaean, as reflected in a transient enrichment in the redox-sensitive element molybdenum in marine shales and a reduction in the extent of MIF precisely coincident with the peak in Mo and FeS2 enrichment (Kaufman et al. 2007). Geochemical proxies are imperfect, and an earlier (c. 3 Ga) appearance of atmospheric oxygen is possible (Ohmoto et al. 2006) but disputed (Farquhar et al. 2007; Buick 2008).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvanian State University, 503 Deike Building, University Park, PA, 16870, USA

    Lee R. Kump

  2. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Makarova 2, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Anton B. Kuznetsov & Igor M. Gorokhov

  3. Geological Survey of Norway, 6315, Sluppen, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Victor A. Melezhik

  4. Centre for Geobiology, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, Bergen, N-5007, Norway

    Victor A. Melezhik

  5. Department of Geochemistry, Czech Geological Survey, Geologicka 6, 152 00 Prague 5, Prague, Czech Republic

    Juraj Farkaš

  6. Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcka 129, Prague 6, 165 21, Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Juraj Farkaš

  7. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 021 38, USA

    Ramananda Chakrabarti & Stein B. Jacobsen

  8. Indian Institute of Science, Center for Earth Sciences, Bangalore, 560 012, India

    Ramananda Chakrabarti

  9. Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Christopher T. Reinhard & Timothy W. Lyons

  10. IFREMER, Department of Ressources physiques et Ecosystèmes de fond deMer, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Olivier Rouxel

  11. Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, UMR 6538, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, Place Nicolas Copernic, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Dan Asael

  12. Origins Lab, Department of the Geophysical Sciences and Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Nicolas Dauphas & François L. H. Tissot

  13. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Equipe Géobiosphère Actuelleet Primitive, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238, cedex 5 Paris, France

    Mark van Zuilen

  14. Department for Geosciences, University of Tuebingen, Wilhelmstrasse 56, 72074, Tuebingen, Germany

    Ronny Schoenberg

  15. Geological Survey of Norway, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Judith L. Hannah & Holly J. Stein

  16. AIRIE Program, Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1482, USA

    Judith L. Hannah & Holly J. Stein

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  1. Lee R. Kump
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  2. Anton B. Kuznetsov
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  4. Victor A. Melezhik
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  14. Ronny Schoenberg
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  15. François L. H. Tissot
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Correspondence to Lee R. Kump .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Norway, Centre of Excellence in Geobiology, University of Bergen, Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Victor A. Melezhik

  2. , Department of Earth Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, United Kingdom

    Anthony R. Prave

  3. , Department of Geosciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland

    Eero J. Hanski

  4. , Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Universities, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, United Kingdom

    Anthony E. Fallick

  5. Geological Survey of Norway, Sluppen, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Aivo Lepland

  6. , Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, Deike Building, University Park 535, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Lee R. Kump

  7. , Institut für Geologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Univ. Münster, Corrensstrasse 24, Münster, 48149, Germany

    Harald Strauss

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Kump, L.R. et al. (2013). 7.10 Chemical Characteristics of Sediments and Seawater. In: Melezhik, V., et al. Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation. Frontiers in Earth Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29670-3_10

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