Nature 267, 403 - 408 (02 June 1977); doi:10.1038/267403a0

Catastrophic chemical events in the history of the ocean

William T. Holser

Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, D−6500 Mainz, Germany (BRD) Department of Geology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403

Catastrophic chemical events are characterised by sharp rises in ³⁴S in the surface of the whole world ocean, and by greater overshoots locally. Three events are recognised and named for the formation in which they are most sharply displayed. The sharpness of the rise in ³⁴S suggests that the sulphide deposition necessary to explain it must have been accumulating residual high-³⁴S seawater for some tens of millions of years out of contact with the surface ocean. A modified geological model is presented: brine generated by evaporite deposition is stored in deeps of a mediterranean basin; underneath the brine, pyrite precipitation builds a store of brine heavy in ³⁴S_so4, whose corresponding buildup of ³⁸O_so4 may balance the decrease of ³⁸O_so4 from evaporite deposition. Catastrophic mixing of the brine and the surface ocean, initiated by destruction of the storing basin, is the source of the sharp rise in the sulphur isotope age curve detected world-wide in evaporites. These events have important implications not only for modelling of the chemical history of the ocean, atmosphere, and sediments, but also for the explanation of faunal crises, and the many aspects of geology that depend on the composition and circulation of the oceans and their peripheral basins.

References

1.	Thode, H. G. & Monster, J. Am. Ass. petrol. Geol. Mem. 4, 367–377 (1965).
2.	Nielsen, H. Geol. Rundsch. 55, 160–172 (1965).
3.	Holser, W. T. & I. R. Kaplan Chem. Geol. 1, 93–135 (1966).
4.	Claypool, G. E., Holser, W. T., Kaplan, I. R., Sakai, H. & Zak, I. Geol. Soc. Am. Programs Abstr., 4, 473 (1972).
5.	Claypool, G. E., Holser, W. T., Kaplan, I. R., Sakai, H. & Zak, I. (Unpublished).
6.	Sakai, H. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 15, 201–205 (1972).
7.	Holser, W. T. & Kaplan, I. R. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 101, 97 (1968).
8.	Rees, C. E. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 7, 366–370 (1970).
9.	Nielsen, H. UNESCO Earth Sci. 7, 91–102 (1972).
10.	Nielsen, H. in Mezhdunar. Geokhim. Kong. (Dokl.), 1st, 1971 (ed. Vinogradov, A. P.) 4, 1, 127–140 (1973).
11.	Holland, H. D., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 37, 2605–2616 (1973).
12.	Schidlowski, M., Junge, C. E. & Pietrek, H. J. geophys. Res. (in press).
13.	Harland, W. B., Smith, A. G. & Wilcock, B. (eds) Q. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 120S (1964).
14.	Garrels, R. M. & Mackenzie, F. T. Evolution of Sedimentary Rocks (Norton, New York, 1971).
15.	Fischer, A. G. in Problems in Palaeoclimatology (ed. Nairn, A. E. M.) 566–574 (Discussion: p. 575–577) (Interscience, London, 1964).
16.	Buerlen, K. Z. Deutsch. Geol. Gesell. 108, 88–99 (1956).
17.	Kinsman, D. J. J. Nature 255, 375–378 (1975).
18.	Hsu, K. H. Earth Sci. Rev. 8, 371–396 (1973).
19.	Burke, K. Geology 3, 613–616 (1975).
20.	Valiashko, M. G. Freiberger Forschungsh. A123, 197–233 (1958).
21.	Trüper, H. G. in Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in the Red Sea (eds Degens, E. T. & Ross, D. A.), 263–271 (Springer–Verlag, Berlin, 1969).
22.	Watson, S. W. & Waterbury, J. B. in Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in the Red Sea (eds Degens, E. T. & Ross, D. A.), 272–281 (Springer–Verlag, Berlin, 1969).
23.	Nissenbaum, A. & Kaplan, I. R. Limnol. Oceanog. 17, 570–582.
24.	Berner, R. A. Am. J. Sci. 268, 1–23 (1970).
25.	Corliss, J. B. J. geophys. Res. 76, 8128–8138.
26.	Dymond, J., Corliss, J. B., Heath, G. R., Field, C. W., Dasch, E. J. & Veeh, H. H. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 34, 3355–3372 (1973).
27.	Olson, W. S. & Leyden, R. J. Can. Soc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 2, 720–732.
28.	Bonatti, E., Ball, M. & Schubert, C. Naturwissenschaften 57, 107–108 (1970).
29.	Kinsman, D. J. J. in Petroleum and Global Tectonics (eds Fischer, A. G. & Judson, S.), 84–126 (Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1973).
30.	Kinsman, D. J. J. in 4th Symposium on Salt (ed. Coogan, A. H.), 2, 255–259 (Northern Ohio Geological Society, Cleveland, Ohio, 1974).
31.	Young, G. M. Precambrian Res. 1, 13–41 (1974).
32.	Kulibakina, I. B., Rabotnov, V. T., Goncharov, E. S. & Ahobot, M. R. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R. 201, 672–674 (Transl. Dokl. Earth Sci. Ser. 201, 86–88, 1971).
33.	Pisarchik, YA. K., Minaeva, M. A. & Rusetskaya, G. A. Trudy Vses. Issled. Geol. Inst. 215, (1975).
34.	Zharkov, M. A. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. S.S.S.R. 184, 913–914 (1969) (transl. Dokl. Earth Sci. Ser. 184, 72–74, 1969).
35.	Schindewolf, O. H. & Seilacher, A. Akad. Wiss. Literal. Mainz Abhandl. Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 1955, 260–446 (1955).
36.	Stöcklin, J. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Publ. 88, 159–179 (1968).
37.	Ala, M. A. Am. Ass. petrol. Geol. Bull. 58, 1758–1770 (1974).
38.	Grayston, L. D., Sherwin, D. F. & Allan, J. F. in Geological History of Western Canada (eds McCrossan, R. G. & Glaister, R. P.), 49–59 (Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1964).
39.	Meyerhoff, A. A. J. Geol. 78, 406–444 (1970).
40.	Churkin, M., Jr Am. Ass. petrol. Geol. Mem. 19, 485–489 (1973).
41.	Pilot, J., Rössler, H. V. & Müller, P. Neue Bergbautech. 2, 161–168 (1972).
42.	Warrington, G. Qu. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 126, 183–223 (1970).
43.	Wills, L. J. Qu. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 126, 225–283 (1970).
44.	Birkelund, T. & Perch-Nielsen, K. in Geology of Greenland (ed. Escher, A. & Watt, W. S.), 305–339 (Grønlands Geologiske Undersogelse, Copenhagen, 1976).
45.	Richter–Bernberg, G. UNESCO Earth Sci. Ser. 7, 275–287 (1972).
46.	Degens, E. T. & Stoffers, P. Nature 263, 22–27 (1976).
47.	Schwarcz, H. P. & Burnie, S. W. Mineral. Deposita 8, 264–277 (1973).
48.	Knauth, L. P. & Epstein, S. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40, 1095–1108 (1976).
49.	Buschendorf, F. & Puchelt, H. Geol. Jahrb. 82, 499–582.
50.	Hoffman, T. Mineral Deposita 4, 260–274 (1969).
51.	Reimer, T. Neues Jahrb. Mineral. Abhandl. 116, 167–195 (1972).
52.	Veizer, J. & Compston, W. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 38, 1461–1484.
53.	Veizer, J. & Compston, W. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40, 905–914 (1976).
54.	Tremba, E. L., Faure, G., Katsikatsos, G. C. & Summerson, C. H. Chem. Geol. 16, 109–120 (1976).