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Hydrogen sulphide release to surface waters at the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Wille

    (Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

  • Thomas F. Nägler

    (Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

  • Bernd Lehmann

    (Institute of Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Technical University of Clausthal)

  • Stefan Schröder

    (Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    Present address: Total E&P, Avenue Larribau, F-64018 Pau, France.)

  • Jan D. Kramers

    (Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

Abstract

The Cambrian explosion: Sulphide rises to the occasion Changes in environmental conditions at the Precambrian–Cambrian transition (around 542 million years ago) have been suggested as a possible explanation for the apparent rapid increase in abundance of multicellular organisms known as the 'Cambrian explosion'. The nature of the environmental changes is still a matter of debate, however. Wille et al. now report molybdenum isotope signatures of black shales from two stratigraphically correlated sample sets with a depositional age of about 542 million years. With the help of a box model of the oceanic molybdenum cycle, they find that intense upwelling of hydrogen sulphide-rich deep ocean water best explains the observed early Cambrian molybdenum isotope signal. This suggests that the early Cambrian animal radiation may have been triggered by a major change in ocean circulation, following a long period during which the ocean was stratified, with sulphidic deep water.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Wille & Thomas F. Nägler & Bernd Lehmann & Stefan Schröder & Jan D. Kramers, 2008. "Hydrogen sulphide release to surface waters at the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary," Nature, Nature, vol. 453(7196), pages 767-769, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:453:y:2008:i:7196:d:10.1038_nature07072
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07072
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