Abstract
A number of 2,000-million-year-old marbles have extraordinarily heavy carbon isotope signatures (δ13C ≈+12%0, PDB) 1,2, suggesting that there was a worldwide excursion in the carbon isotope composition of sea water at this time. To test this hypothesis we have measured the carbon isotope signatures of 2,000-million-year-old amphibolite facies marbles from the Scottish Lewisian. The occurrence of a major isotope excursion is confirmed by the heavy carbon isotope signatures of these rocks (δ13C up to +13%0 PDB), which we attribute to an origin contemporaneous with sedimenta-tion. This excursion coincides with a major change in the redox state of the oceans which is likely to have induced considerable changes in the carbon cycle. We suggest that the excursion was due to increased rates of organic carbon deposition resulting from an increase in organic productivity.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Schidlowski, M., Eichmann, R. & Junge, C. E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 40, 449–455 (1976).
Baker, A. J. & Fallick, A. E. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. (in the press).
Bikerman, M., Bowes, D. R. & van Breemen, O. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 131, 237–254 (1975).
O'Nions, R. K., Hamilton, P. J. & Hooker, P. T. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 63, 229–240 (1983).
Rock, N. M. S. Spec. Publ. geol. Soc. Lond. 27, 109–126 (1987).
Valley, J. W. in Stable isotopes in High Temperature Processes (eds Valley, J. W., Taylor, P. Jr & O'Neil, J. R.) 445–490 (Miner. Soc. Am. 1986).
Veizer, J. & Hoefs, J. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 40, 1397–1395 (1976).
Schidlowski, M., Eichmann, R. & Junge, C. E. Precambr. Res. 2, 1–69 (1975).
McNaughton, N. J. & Wilson, A. F. J. geol. Soc. Aust. 30, 175–178 (1983).
Ghent, E. D. & O'Neil, J. R. Can. J. Earth Sci. 22, 324–329 (1987).
Schidlowski, M., Hayes, J. M. & Kaplan, I. R. in Earths' Earliest Biosphere, its Origin and volution (ed. Schopf, J. W.) 149–186 (Princeton University Press, 1983).
Knoll, A. H., Hayes, J. M., Kaufman, A. J., Swett, K. & Lambert, I. B. Nature 321, 832–838 (1986).
Griffin, W. L. et al. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 135, 629–647 (1978).
Galimov, E. M., Migdisov, A. A. & Ronov, A. B. Geochem. Int. 12–2, 1–19 (1975).
Veizer, J., Holser, W. T. & Wilgus, C. K. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 44, 579–587 (1980).
Rickard, D. T., Zweifel, H. & Donnelly, T. H. Econ. Geol. 74, 1060–1068 (1979).
Irwin, H., Cunis, C. & Coleman, M. Nature 260, 209–213 (1977).
Friedman, I. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 34, 1303–1315 (1970).
McKenzie, J. A. J. Geol. 89, 185–198 (1981).
Walker, J. C. G. et al. in Earth's Earliest Biosphere, its Origin and Evolution (ed. Schopf, J.) 260–289 (Princeton University Press, 1983).
Schidlowski, M. Nature 333, 313–318 (1988).
Jenkyns, H. Am. J. Sci. 288, 101–151 (1988).
Holland, H. D. The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans (Princeton University Press, 1984).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baker, A., Fallick, A. Evidence from Lewisian limestones for isotopically heavy carbon in two-thousand-million-year-old sea water. Nature 337, 352–354 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/337352a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/337352a0
This article is cited by
-
Origin and classification of the Late Triassic Huaishuping gold deposit in the eastern part of the Qinling-Dabie Orogen, China: implications for gold metallogeny
Mineralium Deposita (2021)
-
Micromorphology and Textural Variations in the Ane Ghat Waterfall Tufa Deposits from Upland Deccan Traps and their Genesis
Journal of the Geological Society of India (2019)
-
Genesis of copper-lead mineralization in the regionally zoned Agnigundala Sulfide Belt, Cuddapah Basin, Andhra Pradesh, India
Mineralium Deposita (2018)
-
Depositional environment and origin of the Lilaozhuang Neoarchean BIF-hosted iron–magnesite deposit on the southern margin of the North China Craton
International Journal of Earth Sciences (2017)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.