Osmium evidence for synchronicity between a rise in atmospheric oxygen and Palaeoproterozoic deglaciation

Yasuhito Sekine (), Katsuhiko Suzuki, Ryoko Senda, Kosuke T. Goto, Eiichi Tajika, Ryuji Tada, Kazuhisa Goto, Shinji Yamamoto, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Nanako O. Ogawa and Teruyuki Maruoka
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Yasuhito Sekine: University of Tokyo
Katsuhiko Suzuki: Institute for Research on Earth Evolution, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka
Ryoko Senda: Institute for Research on Earth Evolution, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka
Kosuke T. Goto: University of Tokyo, Bunkyo
Eiichi Tajika: University of Tokyo
Ryuji Tada: University of Tokyo, Bunkyo
Kazuhisa Goto: Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino
Shinji Yamamoto: University of Tokyo, Bunkyo
Naohiko Ohkouchi: Institute of Biogeoscience, JASMTEC, Yokosuka
Nanako O. Ogawa: Institute of Biogeoscience, JASMTEC, Yokosuka
Teruyuki Maruoka: Graduate School of Life & Environ. Sci., University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Early Palaeoproterozoic (2.5–2.0 billion years ago) was a critical phase in Earth's history, characterized by multiple severe glaciations and a rise in atmospheric O2 (the Great Oxidation Event). Although glaciations occurred at the time of O2 increase, the relationship between climatic and atmospheric transitions remains poorly understood. Here we report high concentrations of the redox-sensitive element Os with high initial 187Os/188Os values in a sandstone–siltstone interval that spans the transition from glacial diamictite to overlying carbonate in the Huronian Supergroup, Canada. Together with the results of Re, Mo and S analyses of the sediments, we suggest that immediately after the second Palaeoproterozoic glaciation, atmospheric O2 levels became sufficiently high to deliver radiogenic continental Os to shallow-marine environments, indicating the synchronicity of an episode of increasing O2 and deglaciation. This result supports the hypothesis that climatic recovery from the glaciations acted to accelerate the Great Oxidation Event.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1507

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