Major and trace element,including REE,concentrations of the Doushantuo cap carbonate(c. 635 Ma) in South China...
JING HUANG~(1,2),XUELEI CHU~(1,2*),GANQING JIANG~3,LIANJUN FENG~1 & HUAJIN CHANG~4 1 Institute of Geology and Geophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100029,China 2 State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution,Beijing 100029,China 3 Department of Geoscience,University of Nevada,Las Vegas,NV 89154-4010,USA 4 School of Life and Geography Sciences,Qinghai Normal University,Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Environment and Resources,Ministry of Education,Xining 810008,China
Here we report a detailed trace element study of the cherts from Liuchapo Formation, which is a terminal Ediacaran (551-542 Ma) succession in South China deposited in deep-water basinal setting. The REE of Liuchapo cherts shows similar features as observed for anoxic modern seawater (but not for hydrothermal fluids), characterized by positive La anomaly (LaN/CeN = 0.83-1.91, average 1.37), moderately negative Ce anomaly (0.53-1.1, average 0.73), positive Gd anomaly (average 1.08), positive Y anomaly (average 1.21), and depleted LREE and MREE. In addition, the Liuchapo cherts have low ΣREE (3.36-56.13 ppm, average 20.6 ppm), low Al2O3, Ti, Th and Zr concentrations, and high Y/Ho ratios (up to 43.9). The redox-sensitive trace elements concentrations in the cherts do not correlate with detrital input proxies. All of these features suggest that the redox-sensitive trace elements in the cherts were authigenically concentrated in water column and their concentrations thus are excellent indicators of ancient redox conditions. Very low Th/U ratios, high V/(V+Ni) and FeT/Al ratios, enrichments of redox-sensitive trace elements (U, V, Mo), and low concentration of Mn in the cherts imply anoxia in the deep seawater. Our data reveal that the terminal Ediacaran ocean was not completely oxidized and the deep ocean was still anoxic, at least in South China. We propose that although the oxidative events existed in the terminal Ediacaran oceans, decomposition of organic matter prolonged anoxia in the deep ocean.
For the Doushantuo cap carbonate at the Jiulongwan section in the Yangtze Gorges, its concentrations of redox sensitive elements suggest two distinct enrichments in stratigraphy. These enrichments occur at about 0.8 m and 3.3 m above the bottom of cap carbonate, respectively. They are interpreted as the temporary anoxic depositional conditions due to the oxidation of seeped methane. REE+Y patterns of the cap carbonate are classified into three types with different styles: (1) from the bottom to 2.45 m, representing the behaviors of freshwater and suggesting that massive meltwater swarmed into surface oceans during the deglaciation; (2) from 2.45 m to 3.3 m, indicating the pattern of ancient seawater possibly due to upwelling of deep water; and (3) from 3.3 m to the top, showing "MREE bulge" pattern with HREE-depletion as a result of diagenesis. The three-stage REE+Y patterns represent the transformations of shallow water in the wake of the Marinoan glaciation in this region: the fresh meltwater was dominant first, and then it interfused into the oceanic basin by the transgression and upwelling. Bloom of plankton further introduced anoxia near the water-sediment interface.
HUANG Jing1,2,3, CHU XueLei1,2, CHANG HuaJin1,2,3 & FENG LianJun1,2 1 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Cherts in the Laobao Formation in the Silikou section,South China were deposited in terminal Ediacaran deep-water.The speciations of iron in cherts,such as pyrite Fe(FeP),HCl-extractable Fe(FeH),and total Fe(FeT),and their interrelationships,are proxies for distinguishing oxic,anoxic but ferruginous,and sulfidic conditions,which is an effective method for studying the terminal Ediacaran ocean environment.For chert samples from the Laobao Formation,pyrite concentrations are generally low(<0.56%),degree of pyritization(DOP)ranges from<0.01 to 0.78 and most are<0.45;(FeP+FeH)/FeT ratios are between 0.27 and 0.84 and most exceed 0.38,and most of FeT/Al ratios range from 0.55 to 5.87(averaging 1.1).Relatively high content of highly reactive Fe and low content of pyrite indicate a scarcity of H2S and Fe-enriched deep-water.These features suggested that the deposition setting of Laobao cherts was anoxic and ferruginous.Terminal Ediacaran deep-water in the South China Basin was most likely anoxic and ferruginous,which played a key role in the emergence and evolution of early multicellular life.
