Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion

Ross N. Mitchell; Lianjun Feng; Zhiyue Zhang; Peng Peng

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2023.100046

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Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion

1.
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
2.
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3.
Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

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⁴These authors contributed equally
Corresponding authors: ross.mitchell@mail.iggcas.ac.cn (R.M.); pengpengwj@mail.iggcas.ac.cn (P.P.)
Received Date: June 29, 2023

Accepted Date: December 04, 2023

Published Online: December 05, 2023

The Innovation Geoscience 1(3), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2023.100046 | Cite this article

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1. The Majiatun anomaly is the oldest case of Neoproterozoic carbon isotope decoupling—300 million years earlier than before.
  
  A large pool of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) proposed after snowball Earth must have therefore existed much earlier.
  
  Oscillating decoupling/coupling implies dynamic diminution of the large Precambrian DOC pool reflective of oxygenation.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

The Neoproterozoic Era (1000–539 Ma) experienced repeated negative carbon isotope excursions, representing the largest negative excursions in Earth history and their origins remain enigmatic. One salient observation is that unlike younger Phanerozoic carbon isotope excursions that almost exclusively exhibit covariation in the carbon isotopes of carbonate and organic carbon, about half of Neoproterozoic excursions are expressed in carbonate carbon isotopes (δ¹³C_carb) but their organic carbon isotopes (δ¹³C_org) lack the same anomaly. Documenting which excursions exhibit carbonate–organic coupling or decoupling may provide a possible clue as to the enigmatic dynamics of the anomalous Neoproterozoic carbon cycle. We report here that a newly recognized and the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope anomaly also exhibits decoupling. Thus, the ca. 940 Ma Majiatun anomaly now represents the oldest-known decoupled Neoproterozoic excursion—300 m.y. earlier than previously thought. Ruling out altogether or mostly merely localized artifacts such as diagenesis, changes in water depth, and contamination of detrital organic matter, we interpret this new evidence of carbonate–organic δ¹³C decoupling in the context of other anomalies through time. Although the remineralization of a large pool of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was proposed to explain late Neoproterozoic δ¹³C decoupled anomalies, our earlier evidence of decoupling suggests this pool was much more ancient. Our new data also require the temporal oscillation between decoupling and coupling of the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle, implying a dynamic diminution of the large Precambrian DOC pool reflective of the rising but equally variable oxygenation of the oceans and rise of animal life at this time.

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Mitchell R., Feng L., Zhang Z., et al., (2023). Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion. The Innovation Geoscience 1(3), 100046. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2023.100046

Mitchell R., Feng L., Zhang Z., et al., (2023). Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion. The Innovation Geoscience 1(3), 100046. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2023.100046

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Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion

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Carbonate–organic decoupling during the first Neoproterozoic carbon isotope excursion

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