FAR-DEEP: organic carbon isotope chemostratigraphy of early Paleoproterozoic sediments from Fennoscandia

One major objective of the Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project (FAR-DEEP) is to reconstruct ancient microbial ecosystems and the evolution of key metabolic pathways during the Archean-Proterozoic Transition (APT). Fifteen drill cores with a total length of 3650m were retrieved in three areas (Imandra/Varzuga and Pechenga Greenstone belts and Onega Basin) in northern Russia. Cores cover a time interval of some 700 my and have archived several important changes in Earth’s environment. Among them, the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) at ca. 2350 million years ago resulted in large-scale environmental changes (e.g. Melezhik et al., 2005). Of similar importance, but specifically for global carbon cycling, are the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event (LJE; e.g. Melezhik et al., 2007) and the Shunga Event (SE; e.g. Melezhik et al., 2009). This work presents preliminary carbon isotope results for sedimentary organic matter (δ13Corg) contained in the major sedimentary formations cored by FAR-DEEP. The samples were processed via sealed tube combustion. The total variation in δ13Corg between -40 and -17 ‰ agrees well with previously published data (e.g. Eigenbrode and Freeman, 2006). But more informative than the organic carbon isotopic composition alone is the isotopic difference (Δ13C) between the organic (δ13Corg) and carbonate carbon (δ13Ccarb) isotopic composition: Δ13C = δ13Ccarb - δ13Corg This parameter provides information about the isotopic fractionation associated with biosynthesis and carbon cycling (e.g., Des Marais, 2001). Sediments from the lower Kuetsjärvi Formation (core 5A) and the upper part of the Tulomozero Formation (cores 10A, 10B, 11A), covering the LJE, display Δ13C values between 30 and 37‰. This isotopic difference continuous through the SE (cores 12A/B and 13). The broad parallel evolution of δ13Corg and δ13Ccarb indicates that respective perturbations affected the global carbon cycle. However, further refinement will be necessary as results have been obtained from bulk rock material.