Sulfate was a trace constituent of Archean seawater

Sean A Crowe; Guillaume Paris; Sergei Katsev; CarriAyne Jones; Sang-Tae Kim; Aubrey L Zerkle; Sulung Nomosatryo; David A Fowle; Jess F Adkins; Alex L Sessions; James Farquhar; Donald E Canfield

doi:10.1126/science.1258966

Sulfate was a trace constituent of Archean seawater

Science. 2014 Nov 7;346(6210):735-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1258966.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NordCEE and Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. sacrowe1@gmail.com.
² Department of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
³ Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Physics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55812, USA.
⁴ Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NordCEE and Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
⁵ School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK.
⁷ Research Center for Limnology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Cibinong, West Java, Indonesia.
⁸ Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
⁹ Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
¹⁰ NordCEE and Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

PMID: 25378621
DOI: 10.1126/science.1258966

Abstract

In the low-oxygen Archean world (>2400 million years ago), seawater sulfate concentrations were much lower than today, yet open questions frustrate the translation of modern measurements of sulfur isotope fractionations into estimates of Archean seawater sulfate concentrations. In the water column of Lake Matano, Indonesia, a low-sulfate analog for the Archean ocean, we find large (>20 per mil) sulfur isotope fractionations between sulfate and sulfide, but the underlying sediment sulfides preserve a muted range of δ(34)S values. Using models informed by sulfur cycling in Lake Matano, we infer Archean seawater sulfate concentrations of less than 2.5 micromolar. At these low concentrations, marine sulfate residence times were likely 10(3) to 10(4) years, and sulfate scarcity would have shaped early global biogeochemical cycles, possibly restricting biological productivity in Archean oceans.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biological Products / chemical synthesis
Biological Products / chemistry
Biological Products / history*
History, Ancient
Indonesia
Seawater / chemistry*
Sulfates / analysis
Sulfates / history*
Sulfur Isotopes / analysis
Sulfur Isotopes / history

Substances

Biological Products
Sulfates
Sulfur Isotopes