Environmental context for the terminal Ediacaran biomineralization of animals

H Cui; A J Kaufman; S Xiao; S Peek; H Cao; X Min; Y Cai; Z Siegel; X-M Liu; Y Peng; J D Schiffbauer; A J Martin

doi:10.1111/gbi.12178

Environmental context for the terminal Ediacaran biomineralization of animals

Geobiology. 2016 Jul;14(4):344-63. doi: 10.1111/gbi.12178. Epub 2016 Apr 1.

Authors

H Cui^{1

2}, A J Kaufman^{1

3}, S Xiao⁴, S Peek¹, H Cao¹, X Min⁵, Y Cai⁵, Z Siegel⁶, X-M Liu⁷, Y Peng⁸, J D Schiffbauer⁹, A J Martin¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
² Department of Geoscience and NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³ Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
⁵ Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
⁶ Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁷ Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁸ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
⁹ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
¹⁰ División de Geociencias Aplicadas, IPICYT, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

PMID: 27038407
DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12178

Abstract

In terminal Ediacaran strata of South China, the onset of calcareous biomineralization is preserved in the paleontological transition from Conotubus to Cloudina in repetitious limestone facies of the Dengying Formation. Both fossils have similar size, funnel-in-funnel construction, and epibenthic lifestyle, but Cloudina is biomineralized, whereas Conotubus is not. To provide environmental context for this evolutionary milestone, we conducted a high-resolution elemental and stable isotope study of the richly fossiliferous Gaojiashan Member. Coincident with the first appearance of Cloudina is a significant positive carbonate carbon isotope excursion (up to +6‰) and an increase in the abundance and (34) S composition of pyrite. In contrast, δ(34) S values of carbonate-associated sulfate remain steady throughout the succession, resulting in anomalously large (>70‰) sulfur isotope fractionations in the lower half of the member. The fractionation trend likely relates to changes in microbial communities, with sulfur disproportionation involved in the lower interval, whereas microbial sulfate reduction was the principal metabolic pathway in the upper. We speculate that the coupled paleontological and biogeochemical anomalies may have coincided with an increase in terrestrial weathering fluxes of sulfate, alkalinity, and nutrients to the depositional basin, which stimulated primary productivity, the spread of an oxygen minimum zone, and the development of euxinic conditions in subtidal and basinal environments. Enhanced production and burial of organic matter is thus directly connected to the carbon isotope anomaly, and likely promoted pyritization as the main taphonomic pathway for Conotubus and other soft-bodied Ediacara biotas. Our studies suggest that the Ediacaran confluence of ecological pressures from predation and environmental pressures from an increase in seawater alkalinity set the stage for an unprecedented geobiological response: the evolutionary novelty of animal biomineralization.

MeSH terms

Animals
Calcium Carbonate / chemistry*
China
Elements*
Fossils*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Minerals / analysis*

Substances

Elements
Minerals
Calcium Carbonate