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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
The evolution of the marine phosphate reservoir
Nature, Volume 467, No. 7319, Year 2010
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Description
Phosphorus is a biolimiting nutrient that has an important role in regulating the burial of organic matter and the redox state of the ocean-atmosphere system. The ratio of phosphorus to iron in iron-oxide-rich sedimentary rocks can be used to track dissolved phosphate concentrations if the dissolved silica concentration of sea water is estimated. Here we present iron and phosphorus concentration ratios from distal hydrothermal sediments and iron formations through time to study the evolution of the marine phosphate reservoir. The data suggest that phosphate concentrations have been relatively constant over the Phanerozoic eon, the past 542 million years (Myr) of Earth's history. In contrast, phosphate concentrations seem to have been elevated in Precambrian oceans. Specifically, there is a peak in phosphorus-to-iron ratios in Neoproterozoic iron formations dating from g1/4750 to g1/4635Myr ago, indicating unusually high dissolved phosphate concentrations in the aftermath of widespread, low-latitude g snowball Earth' glaciations. An enhanced postglacial phosphate flux would have caused high rates of primary productivity and organic carbon burial and a transition to more oxidizing conditions in the ocean and atmosphere. The snowball Earth glaciations and Neoproterozoic oxidation are both suggested as triggers for the evolution and radiation of metazoans. We propose that these two factors are intimately linked; a glacially induced nutrient surplus could have led to an increase in atmospheric oxygen, paving the way for the rise of metazoan life. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Planavsky, Noah J.
United States, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
United States, Woods Hole
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Rouxel, Olivier J.
United States, Woods Hole
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
France, Plouzane
Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer Iuem
Bekker, Andrey Yu
Canada, Winnipeg
University of Manitoba
Lalonde, Stefan V.
Canada, Edmonton
University of Alberta
Konhauser, Kurt O.
Canada, Edmonton
University of Alberta
Reinhard, Christopher T.
United States, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
Lyons, Timothy W.
United States, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
Statistics
Citations: 341
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/nature09485
ISSN:
14764687
Research Areas
Cancer
Environmental