Article abstract
Nature Geoscience 1, 703 - 708 (2008)
Published online: 7 September 2008 | doi:10.1038/ngeo306
Subject Categories: Biogeochemistry | Oceanography | Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography
Alternating Si and Fe deposition caused by temperature fluctuations in Precambrian oceans
Nicole R. Posth1, Florian Hegler1, Kurt O. Konhauser2 & Andreas Kappler1
Abstract
Precambrian banded iron formations provide an extensive archive of pivotal environmental changes and the evolution of biological processes on early Earth. The formations are characterized by bands ranging from micrometre- to metre-scale layers of alternating iron- and silica-rich minerals. However, the nature of the mechanisms of layer formation is unknown. To properly evaluate this archive, the physical, chemical and/or biological triggers for the deposition of both the iron- and silica-rich layers, and crucially their alternate banding, must be identified. Here we use laboratory experiments and geochemical modelling to study the potential for a microbial mechanism in the formation of alternating iron–silica bands. We find that the rate of biogenic iron(III) mineral formation by iron-oxidizing microbes reaches a maximum between 20 and 25 °C. Decreasing or increasing water temperatures slow microbial iron mineral formation while promoting abiotic silica precipitation. We suggest that natural fluctuations in the temperature of the ocean photic zone during the period when banded iron formations were deposited could have led to the primary layering observed in these formations by successive cycles of microbially catalysed iron(III) mineral deposition and abiotic silica precipitation.
- Geomicrobiology Group, Center for Applied Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
Correspondence to: Andreas Kappler1 e-mail: andreas.kappler@uni-tuebingen.de
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Biogeochemistry Deepening the early oxygen debateNature Geoscience News and Views (01 Apr 2009)
Bacteria forge a new linkNature News and Views (29 Apr 1993)
See all 4 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Supplementary InformationNature Geoscience Article (01 Apr 2009)
Arsenite-dependent photoautotrophy by an Ectothiorhodospira-dominated consortiumThe ISME Journal Scientific Correspondence
See all 17 matches for Research
