Documenting and describing the redox evolution of the Neoproterozoic ocean: lessons from the Canadian Cordillera (Invited)

The geological record of the Neoproterozoic preserves evidence for large-scale perturbations in Earth’s climate and changes in tectonic configuration. During the terminal Proterozoic, and within the context of these changes, Earth’s fluid envelope achieved a level of oxygenation that allowed for the evolution and subsequent radiation of complex multi-cellular life. As such, better constraining the geochemical evolution of the oceans and atmosphere throughout the entire Neoproterozoic will allow for a more mechanistic understanding of the links between changing environmental chemistry and biological innovation. Further, it will provide information on the relative timing of these changes and, where robust dates are available, estimates on the absolute rates of change (both chemical and biological). To this end, our ongoing work has focused on constructing high stratigraphic resolution geochemical records through mixed lithological packages of sedimentary rocks from eastern Alaska and the Canadian Cordillera. Here, we present detailed chemostratigraphic reconstructions of redox sensitive proxies, including Fe-speciation and trace element budgets, that provide an integrated window into Neoproterozoic marine oxidant budgets. These oxidant budgets then allow for the modeling of the relative influence of different aerobic and anaerobic microbial processes on the overall carbon cycle. Taken together, it is this cascade of microbial processes that drives remineralization reactions, the sum of which serves to counter-act organic carbon export, which is ultimately responsible for the buildup of O2. This simple framework serves as the foundation for our interpretation of Neoproterozoic biogeochemistry and informs our view of late Precambrian marine ecosystems. This approach can be further applied to more specific, and perhaps even more anomalous intervals of Neoproterozoic Earth history, including the Cryogenian Bitter Springs event and the Ediacaran Shuram anomaly; both of which are features that have been thoroughly documented in our stratigraphic sections.