| 1. |
- Ait Lahna, Abdelhak, et al.
(författare)
-
Revised stratigraphic framework for the lower Anti-Atlas supergroup based on U–Pb geochronology of magmatic and detrital zircons (Zenaga and Bou Azzer-El Graara inliers, Anti-Atlas Belt, Morocco)
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of African Earth Sciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 1464-343X. ; 171
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- U–Pb geochronology of magmatic and detrital zircons (Zenaga and Bou Azzer-El Graara inliers, Anti-Atlas Belt, Morocco) and a reassessment of the published constraints suggest a revised stratigraphic framework for the lower Anti-Atlas Supergroup. Five major unconformity-bounded lithostratigraphic packages are here distinguished: the two lower units of Paleoproterozoic age are named the Tasserda-Taghatine Group (2030–1706 Ma) and the Oumoula (Mimount) Formation (ca. 1745–1650 Ma); the third unit of Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic age (ca. 1650 to >883 Ma) is the Tizi n'Taghatine Group; the fourth and fifth units of Neoproterozoic age are the ca. 883 Ma Tachdamt and the ca. 700 Ma Bleida formations. Implications of this revised stratigraphic framework include: 1) the Tasserda-Taghatine Group might be linked to the post-orogenic collapse after the Eburnean Orogeny; 2) the Tizi n'Taghatine Group might be ca. 1.1 Ga in age based on proposed correlation with the Taoudeni Basin succession in Mauritania; 3) the Bleida Formation likely reflects deposition in the foreland basin at the early stage of the Pan-African Orogeny; 4) the Oumoula (Mimount) Formation, Tizi n'Taghatine Group, and Tachdamt Formation potentially record extensional events within the Nuna/Columbia and Rodinia supercontinents; 5) the provenance of the lower Anti-Atlas Supergroup (based on our new detrital zircon dating) is mainly from the West African craton along with possible contributions from other cratons such as Amazonia and the Sahara Metacraton; 6) the flood basalt sequence of the Tachdamt Formation likely belongs to the ca. 885-883 Ma intraplate Iguerda-Taïfast Large Igneous Province (LIP) event defined by previously dated dykes in the Iguerda and Taïfast inliers; and 7) the 1650 Ma Zenaga LIP can be potentially linked with LIP magmatism in Baltica and Laurentia.
|
|
| 2. |
- Alcott, Lewis J., et al.
(författare)
-
Development of Iron Speciation Reference Materials for Palaeoredox Analysis
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research. - : Wiley. - 1639-4488 .- 1751-908X. ; 44:3, s. 581-591
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The development and application of geochemical techniques to identify redox conditions in modern and ancient aquatic environments has intensified over recent years. Iron (Fe) speciation has emerged as one of the most widely used procedures to distinguish different redox regimes in both the water column and sediments, and is the main technique used to identify oxic, ferruginous (anoxic, Fe(II) containing) and euxinic (anoxic, sulfidic) water column conditions. However, an international sediment reference material has never been developed. This has led to concern over the consistency of results published by the many laboratories that now utilise the technique. Here, we report an interlaboratory comparison of four Fe speciation reference materials for palaeoredox analysis, which span a range of compositions and reflect deposition under different redox conditions. We provide an update of extraction techniques used in Fe speciation and assess the effects of both test portion mass, and the use of different analytical procedures, on the quantification of different Fe fractions in sedimentary rocks. While atomic absorption spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry produced comparable Fe measurements for all extraction stages, the use of ferrozine consistently underestimated Fe in the extraction step targeting mixed ferrous–ferric minerals such as magnetite. We therefore suggest that the use of ferrozine is discontinued for this Fe pool. Finally, we report the combined data of four independent Fe speciation laboratories to characterise the Fe speciation composition of the reference materials. These reference materials are available to the community to provide an essential validation of in-house Fe speciation measurements.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bengtson, Stefan, 1947-, et al.
(författare)
-
Fungus-like mycelial fossils in 2.4-billion-year-old vesicular basalt.
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 1:6, s. 1-6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fungi have recently been found to comprise a significant part of the deep biosphere in oceanic sediments and crustal rocks. Fossils occupying fractures and pores in Phanerozoic volcanics indicate that this habitat is at least 400 million years old, but its origin may be considerably older. A 2.4-billion-year-old basalt from the Palaeoproterozoic Ongeluk Formation in South Africa contains filamentous fossils in vesicles and fractures. The filaments form mycelium-like structures growing from a basal film attached to the internal rock surfaces. Filaments branch and anastomose, touch and entangle each other. They are indistinguishable from mycelial fossils found in similar deep-biosphere habitats in the Phanerozoic, where they are attributed to fungi on the basis of chemical and morphological similarities to living fungi. The Ongeluk fossils, however, are two to three times older than current age estimates of the fungal clade. Unless they represent an unknown branch of fungus-like organisms, the fossils imply that the fungal clade is considerably older than previously thought, and that fungal origin and early evolution may lie in the oceanic deep biosphere rather than on land. The Ongeluk discovery suggests that life has inhabited submarine volcanics for more than 2.4 billion years.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bolhar, Robert, et al.
(författare)
-
Atmospheric S and lithospheric Pb in sulphides from the 2.06 Ga Phalaborwa phoscorite-carbonatite Complex, South Africa
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 530
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lead and multiple sulphur isotope compositions were measured in-situ by SIMS on sulphide minerals from phoscorites and carbonatites of the ca. 2.06 Ga Phalaborwa Complex in South Africa. Additionally, sulphide mineral separates and bulk-rock samples were analyzed with IRMS methods to confirm SIMS data. Lead isotope ratios define a trend stretching from unradiogenic to highly radiogenic ratios corresponding to a Pb–Pb regression date of 2054 ± 99 Ma. This apparent date is consistent with the timing of emplacement and thus provides an age estimate for the sulphide mineralization. The least radiogenic Pb isotope compositions overlap, and the regression line intersects, a hypothetical mixing line between MORB mantle and an upper crustal reservoir at ca. 2.1 Ga, suggesting that either a significant quantity of crustal Pb contributed to sulphide mineralization, or that sulphidic xenomelts were derived from an isotopically enriched mantle source. Sulphur isotope ratios of individual sulphide minerals obtained by SIMS are highly variable (δ34S: −15 to +15‰ V-CDT) and, importantly, reveal the contribution of pre-Great Oxidation Event (GOE) atmospheric sulphur with mass-independent isotope fractionation (Δ33S = δ33S–[(1+δ34S)0.515-1]×1000 ≠0.0‰). Mass-independent sulphur isotope fractionation is also revealed by sulphur isotope ratios measured on sulphide mineral separates (Δ33S: 0.2 to 0.7‰) and bulk rock samples (Δ33S: 0.2 to 0.4‰). Generally, the range of sulphur isotope ratios obtained with SIMS is much larger than that observed in non-SIMS data, possibly reflecting isotopic variability at the μm scale, resolvable only with microbeam measurements. Various sources and mechanisms by which supracrustal material may have been incorporated into mantle-derived carbonatite-phoscorite magmas are assessed, taking into account that geological evidence for the presence of sedimentary material available for assimilation during shallow-level magma emplacement is lacking. Given the variability in S and Pb isotopic compositions, it is inferred that pre-GOE surficial Pb and S were not derived from asthenospheric mantle contaminated with supracrustal materials. Instead, whole rock trace element compositions, in concert with published geochemical and petrological evidence, are consistent with interaction of asthenospheric, plume-derived melt with compositionally heterogeneous lithospheric mantle that was metasomatically modified by fluids and melts released from a subducting slab. Despite geochemical and geochronological similarities with the 2055 Ma Busvheld Complex, lead and sulphur isotope data for both complexes are resolvably different, pointing to distinct lithospheric mantle sources involved in sulphide mineralization.
|
|
| 5. |
- El Albani, Abderrazak, et al.
(författare)
-
Large colonial organisms with coordinated growth in oxygenated environments 2.1 Gyr ago
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 466:7302, s. 100-104
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The evidence for macroscopic life during the Palaeoproterozoic era (2.5-1.6 Gyr ago) is controversial(1-5). Except for the nearly 2-Gyr-old coil-shaped fossil Grypania spiralis(6,7), which may have been eukaryotic, evidence for morphological and taxonomic bio-diversification of macroorganisms only occurs towards the beginning of the Mesoproterozoic era (1.6-1.0 Gyr)(8). Here we report the discovery of centimetre-sized structures from the 2.1-Gyr-old black shales of the Palaeoproterozoic Francevillian B Formation in Gabon, which we interpret as highly organized and spatially discrete populations of colonial organisms. The structures are up to 12 cm in size and have characteristic shapes, with a simple but distinct ground pattern of flexible sheets and, usually, a permeating radial fabric. Geochemical analyses suggest that the sediments were deposited under an oxygenated water column. Carbon and sulphur isotopic data indicate that the structures were distinct biogenic objects, fossilized by pyritization early in the formation of the rock. The growth patterns deduced from the fossil morphologies suggest that the organisms showed cell-to-cell signalling and coordinated responses, as is commonly associated with multicellular organization(9). The Gabon fossils, occurring after the 2.45-2.32-Gyr increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration(10), may be seen as ancient representatives of multicellular life, which expanded so rapidly 1.5 Gyr later, in the Cambrian explosion.
|
|
| 6. |
- El Albani, Abder, et al.
(författare)
-
Organism motility in an oxygenated shallow-marine environment 2.1 billion years ago
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 116:9, s. 3431-3436
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 2.1 billion-year-old sedimentary strata contain exquisitely preserved fossils that provide an ecologic snapshot of the biota inhabiting an oxygenated shallow-marine environment. Most striking are the pyritized string-shaped structures, which suggest that the producer have been a multicellular or syncytial organism able to migrate laterally and vertically to reach for food resources. A modern analogue is the aggregation of amoeboid cells into a migratory slug phase in modern cellular slime molds during time of food starvation. While it remains uncertain whether the amoeboidlike organisms represent a failed experiment or a prelude to subsequent evolutionary innovations, they add to the growing record of comparatively complex life forms that existed more than a billion years before animals emerged in the late Neoproterozoic.Evidence for macroscopic life in the Paleoproterozoic Era comes from 1.8 billion-year-old (Ga) compression fossils [Han TM, Runnegar B (1992) Science 257:232–235; Knoll et al. (2006) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 361:1023–1038], Stirling biota [Bengtson S et al. (2007) Paleobiology 33:351–381], and large colonial organisms exhibiting signs of coordinated growth from the 2.1-Ga Francevillian series, Gabon. Here we report on pyritized string-shaped structures from the Francevillian Basin. Combined microscopic, microtomographic, geochemical, and sedimentologic analyses provide evidence for biogenicity, and syngenicity and suggest that the structures underwent fossilization during early diagenesis close to the sediment–water interface. The string-shaped structures are up to 6 mm across and extend up to 170 mm through the strata. Morphological and 3D tomographic reconstructions suggest that the producer may have been a multicellular or syncytial organism able to migrate laterally and vertically to reach food resources. A possible modern analog is the aggregation of amoeboid cells into a migratory slug phase in cellular slime molds at times of starvation. This unique ecologic window established in an oxygenated, shallow-marine environment represents an exceptional record of the biosphere following the crucial changes that occurred in the atmosphere and ocean in the aftermath of the great oxidation event (GOE).
|
|
| 7. |
- El Albani, Abderrazak, et al.
(författare)
-
The 2.1 Ga old Francevillian biota: biogenicity, taphonomy and biodiversity.
- 2014
-
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:6:e99438, s. 1-18
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Paleoproterozoic Era witnessed crucial steps in the evolution of Earth’s surface environments following the first appreciable rise of free atmospheric oxygen concentrations ~2.3 to 2.1 Ga ago, and concomitant shallow ocean oxygenation. While most sedimentary successions deposited during this time interval have experienced thermal overprinting from burial diagenesis and metamorphism, the ca. 2.1 Ga black shales of the Francevillian B Formation (FB2) cropping out in southeastern Gabon have not. The Francevillian Formation contains centimeter-sized structures interpreted as organized and spatially discrete populations of colonial organisms living in an oxygenated marine ecosystem. Here, new material from the FB2 black shales is presented and analyzed to further explore its biogenicity and taphonomy. Our extended record comprises variably sized, shaped, and structured pyritized macrofossils of lobate, elongated, and rodshaped morphologies as well as abundant non-pyritized disk-shaped macrofossils and organic-walled acritarchs. Combined microtomography, geochemistry, and sedimentary analysis suggest a biota fossilized during early diagenesis. The emergence of this biota follows a rise in atmospheric oxygen, which is consistent with the idea that surface oxygenation allowed the evolution and ecological expansion of complex megascopic life.
|
|
| 8. |
- Galili, Nir, et al.
(författare)
-
The geologic history of seawater oxygen isotopes from marine iron oxides
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 365:6452, s. 469-473
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The oxygen isotope composition (delta O-18) of marine sedimentary rocks has increased by 10 to 15 per mil since Archean time. Interpretation of this trend is hindered by the dual control of temperature and fluid delta O-18 on the rocks' isotopic composition. A new delta O-18 record in marine iron oxides covering the past similar to 2000 million years shows a similar secular rise. Iron oxide precipitation experiments reveal a weakly temperature-dependent iron oxide-water oxygen isotope fractionation, suggesting that increasing seawater d(18)O over time was the primary cause of the long-term rise in delta O-18 values of marine precipitates. The O-18 enrichment may have been driven by an increase in terrestrial sediment cover, a change in the proportion of high-and low-temperature crustal alteration, or a combination of these and other factors.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Gumsley, Ashley P., et al.
(författare)
-
Timing and tempo of the Great Oxidation Event
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424. ; 114:8, s. 1811-1816
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first significant buildup in atmospheric oxygen, the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), began in the early Paleoproterozoic in association with global glaciations and continued until the end of the Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion ca. 2,060 Ma. The exact timing of and relationships among these events are debated because of poor age constraints and contradictory stratigraphic correlations. Here, we show that the first Paleoproterozoic global glaciation and the onset of the GOE occurred between ca. 2,460 and 2,426 Ma, ∼100 My earlier than previously estimated, based on an age of 2,426 ± 3 Ma for Ongeluk Formation magmatism from the Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. This age helps define a key paleomagnetic pole that positions the Kaapvaal Craton at equatorial latitudes of 11° ± 6° at this time. Furthermore, the rise of atmospheric oxygen was not monotonic, but was instead characterized by oscillations, which together with climatic instabilities may have continued over the next ∼200 My until ≤2,250-2,240 Ma. Ongeluk Formation volcanism at ca. 2,426 Ma was part of a large igneous province (LIP) and represents a waning stage in the emplacement of several temporally discrete LIPs across a large low-latitude continental landmass. These LIPs played critical, albeit complex, roles in the rise of oxygen and in both initiating and terminating global glaciations. This series of events invites comparison with the Neoproterozoic oxygen increase and Sturtian Snowball Earth glaciation, which accompanied emplacement of LIPs across supercontinent Rodinia, also positioned at low latitude.
|
|
