Zhang, Kun;
Little, Susan H;
Dickson, Alexander J;
Shields, Graham A;
(2025)
Ocean deoxygenation after the Sturtian Snowball.
Nature Communications
, 16
, Article 5618. 10.1038/s41467-025-60700-w.
Preview |
PDF
s41467-025-60700-w.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The abrupt ending of the Sturtian ‘Snowball’ glaciation was characterised by enhanced chemical weathering and carbon cycle perturbations, but there is less certainty over how oxygen levels responded to those changes. Here we reconcile conflicting views using a carbonate-based multiproxy dataset from the Taishir Formation in Mongolia. The geochemical data reveal an episode of ocean deoxygenation, followed by a shift toward less reducing, but still largely anoxic conditions in a post-glacial ocean characterised by nutrient and sulfate limitation. Ocean redox dynamics and biogeochemical cycling following the Sturtian deglaciation were likely dictated by unique tectonic and climatic regimes that facilitated the buildup of a recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon pool in the deep ocean. Post-glacial eutrophication may help to explain the delayed diversification of algal clades, but the persistence of ocean anoxia, excepting transient oxidation pulses, likely hindered the emergence of obligate aerobes, such as animals, until the Ediacaran Period.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ocean deoxygenation after the Sturtian Snowball |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-025-60700-w |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60700-w |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210648 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
