Transient surface ocean oxygenation recorded in the ∼2.66-Ga Jeerinah Formation, Australia.

ABSTRACT: Many paleoredox proxies indicate low-level and dynamic incipient oxygenation of Earth's surface environments during the Neoarchean (2.8-2.5 Ga) before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ∼2.4 Ga. The mode, tempo, and scale of these redox changes are poorly understood, because data from various locations and ages suggest both protracted and transient oxygenation. Here, we present bulk rock and kerogen-bound nitrogen isotope ratios as well as bulk rock selenium abundances and isotope ratios from drill cores sampled at high stratigraphic resolution through the Jeerinah Formation (∼2.66 Ga; Fortescue Group, Western Australia) to test for changes in the redox state of the surface environment. We find that both shallow and deep depositional facies in the Jeerinah Formation display episodes of pos

SUBMITTER: Koehler MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6065012 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature