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Extensive primary production promoted the recovery of the Ediacaran Shuram excursion

Cañadas, Fuencisla; Papineau, Dominic; Leng, Melanie J.; Li, Chao

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Authors

Fuencisla Cañadas

Dominic Papineau

Chao Li



Abstract

Member IV of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation records the recovery from the most negative carbon isotope excursion in Earth history. However, the main biogeochemical controls that ultimately drove this recovery have yet to be elucidated. Here, we report new carbon and nitrogen isotope and concentration data from the Nanhua Basin (South China), where δ13C values of carbonates (δ13Ccarb) rise from − 7‰ to −1‰ and δ15N values decrease from +5.4‰ to +2.3‰. These trends are proposed to arise from a new equilibrium in the C and N cycles where primary production overcomes secondary production as the main source of organic matter in sediments. The enhanced primary production is supported by the coexisting Raman spectral data, which reveal a systematic difference in kerogen structure between depositional environments. Our new observations point to the variable dominance of distinct microbial communities in the late Ediacaran ecosystems, and suggest that blooms of oxygenic phototrophs modulated the recovery from the most negative δ13Ccarb excursion in Earth history.

Citation

Cañadas, F., Papineau, D., Leng, M. J., & Li, C. (2022). Extensive primary production promoted the recovery of the Ediacaran Shuram excursion. Nature Communications, 13, Article 148. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27812-5

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 3, 2021
Online Publication Date Jan 10, 2022
Publication Date Dec 1, 2022
Deposit Date Jan 11, 2022
Publicly Available Date Jan 11, 2022
Journal Nature Communications
Electronic ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Article Number 148
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27812-5
Keywords General Physics and Astronomy; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Chemistry
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7221671
Publisher URL https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27812-5

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