Dynamic carbon and sulfur cycling in the aftermath of the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event: Evidence from the Paleoproterozoic Hutuo Supergroup, North China Craton
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Carbonates with anomalously high δ13C values were first discovered in the Paleoproterozoic successions of the Lomagundi Group in Zimbabwe and the Jatuli Group in Fennoscandia (Galimov et al., 1968, Schidlowski et al., 1975). Since then, similarly high values (>5‰) of δ13C have been reported from carbonates in coeval successions world wide (Bekker et al., 2006, Lindsay and Brasier, 2002, Melezhik and Fallick, 2010, Préat et al., 2011). These unprecedented perturbations in carbon isotope composition were thereby recognized as a worldwide event termed as the Lomagundi-Jatuli event (Schidlowski et al., 1976, Melezhik et al., 2005), ended by the return of δ13C values to near 0‰ after 2060 Ma (Karhu and Holland, 1996, Martin et al., 2013a). The termination and aftermath of these unprecedented perturbations in the carbon cycle was represented by dramatic changes of δ13C from positive to negative values in the 2090–1980 Ma Zaonega Formation in the Onega paleo-basin and the 2083–2050 Ma Francevillian Series of Gabon (Kump et al., 2011, Melezhik et al., 2015, Ossa Ossa et al., 2018). This was recognized as the Shunga-Francevillian Event (SFE), likely the result of massive oxidation of organic matter (OM) (Kump et al., 2011). While the global nature of this negative carbon isotope excursion remains to be confirmed, little effort has been paid to decipher their local responses in various sedimentary environments. Therefore, a combination of multiple geochemical proxies with solid petrographic context is needed for a thorough understanding of the dynamic biogeochemical cycles in the post-LJE oceans.
Oceanic sulfate plays a key role in biogeochemical C cycle through bacterial sulfate reduction (Berner, 1989). Sulfur isotopes in sedimentary rocks have been widely used to explore the oxidative weathering, to quantify the seawater sulfate levels ([SO42−]sw) and to constrain paleoredox states of the oceans (Algeo et al., 2015, Canfield and Teske, 1996, Guo et al., 2015, Luo et al., 2015, Luo et al., 2016, Papineau et al., 2007, Shi et al., 2018). A number of attempts have been made to reconstruct Paleoproterozoic seawater sulfate concentrations and their connections with the redox state of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (Bottrell and Newton, 2006; Habicht, 2002; Luo et al., 2015, Luo et al., 2010, Planavsky et al., 2012, Scott et al., 2014). Growing evidence shows that [SO42−]sw during the LJE has greatly increased and probably reached a maximum value of 10 mM at the falling limb of the LJE (Blättler et al., 2018), as a result of the massive oxidative weathering of continental sulfides (Konhauser et al., 2011, Planavsky et al., 2012). In stark contrast to the remarkable expansion of sulfate reservoir during the LJE, [SO42−]sw in the late Paleoproterozoic and early Mesoproterozoic is estimated to be lower than 2.5 mM (Kah et al., 2004) or even much lower than 1 mM (Luo et al., 2015, Fakhraee et al., 2019). Pyrite multiple-sulfur isotopic data support a rapid expansion of the seawater sulfate reservoir (SSR) during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ca. 2.3 Ga followed by a subsequent contraction of the SSR at ca. 2.05 Ga (Scott et al., 2014). Details of the transition from expansion to contraction, however, remain obscure and require detailed investigations of coeval successions elsewhere.
Shifts of δ13Ccarb value from +3.4‰ to <−3‰ have been documented in the carbonates of the 2.14–1.83 Ga Hutuo Supergroup in the North China Craton (Zhong and Ma, 1997; Kong et al., 2011, She et al., 2016), similar to those on other continents (Kump et al., 2011, Melezhik et al., 2015, Ossa Ossa et al., 2018). It has been interpreted as the result of a deglaciation event (Kong et al., 2011), or corresponding to the onset of the SFE (She et al., 2016). Here we present high-resolution stratigraphic carbon and sulfur isotope data, combined with detailed sedimentology and petrography of Paleoproterozoic carbonates from the Huaiyincun Formation, Hutuo Supergroup in the North China Craton. The coupled δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg and δ34SCAS data of the Huaiyincun Formation shed new light on the critical period between the LJE and the SFE.
Section snippets
Geological setting
The North China Craton is one of the oldest cratonic blocks in the world that can be divided into the Eastern and Western blocks, separated by the Trans-North China Orogen (Fig. 1a) (Zhao et al., 2001). Paleoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary successions are widespread in the North China Craton (Kusky and Li, 2003), the most representative of which being the Hutuo Supergroup. The Hutuo Supergroup is part of the Trans North China Orogen and is located in the Wutai area, Shanxi Province (Fig. 1a).
Sedimentary features
The Huaiyincun Formation is well exposed at the Huaiyincun East section (GPS coordinates 38°39′22.09″N, 113° 7′31.82″E), ca. 1.5 km northwest of Dongye Town (Fig. 1a). It conformably overlies the Daguandong Formation (Fig. 2a-b) and starts with dolostone intercalated with purple metapelite (Fig. 2c). The Huaiyincun Formation is characterized by non-stromatolitic dolostone, with only a few beds of stromatolitic bioherm occurring at ca. 15 m above the base (Fig. 2d). At about 91.6 m above the
Samples and methods
Thirty-four dolostone samples were collected from the ca. 200 m interval of the Huaiyincun Formation in this study. All samples were selected from fresh outcrop to minimize the impact of weathering. Weathered surfaces and veins were cut off during sample preparation. For comparison, two samples of organic-rich metapelites from the Gaofan Group and a sample of banded iron formation (BIF) from the Wutai Group were also studied.
Thin sections were prepared using conventional methods, ground to
Mineralogy
Mineral assemblage of the carbonate rocks is characterized by dolomite + quartz + muscovite + feldspar throughout the Huaiyincun Formation, based on petrographic observations of 34 samples. The lower Huaiyincun Formation (below 91.6 m) has abundant hematite disseminations and sometimes hematite films coating carbonates or other minerals such as zircons (Fig. 4b, c, f). Large grains of detrital minerals such as feldspar, quartz, rutile and rounded apatite >20 μm in diameter are also found in the
A transgressional event recorded in the Huaiyincun Formation
Previous studies have suggested that the Huaiyincun Formation represented a period of maximum transgression in the Hutuo Supergroup (Bai, 1986). Our observations, however, document more details of the depositional environment for the Huaiyincun Formation. In contrast to the underlying Daguandong Formation, which consists of abundant stromatolites (Fig. 2e), only a few beds of stromatolites are found in the Huaiyincun Formation. The imbricated edgewise intraclasts in the lower Huaiyincun
Conclusions
Carbonates in the 2.0–1.9 Ga Huaiyincun Formation of the Hutuo Supergroup are well preserved and have only metamorphosed to the sub-greenschist facies. The lower Huaiyincun Formation, often containing imbricated edgewise intraclasts and showing hummocky cross-stratification, is characterized by pink-purple dolostones enriched in hematite and detrital minerals, while the upper Huaiyincun Formation is dominated by normally graded grey intraclastic dolostones with distinctly lower detrital
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge funding from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant # 41272038, 41472170, 41825019 and 41821001), Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant# XDB26020102), and State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (grant# GBL11801). We thank Zihu Zhang for his help on the CAS analysis and Fanyan Yang, Wei Liu, and Shuzhan Liu for their assistance in field work and sample preparation.
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