Abstract
Early investigators1,2 noticed that the isotope age curve for sedimentary carbon contains a negative displacement in δ13C at the Precambrian/Cambrian (PC/C) boundary, about 570 million years ago3, which may have accompanied the profound biotic changes4 from non-skeletal organisms to those with mineralized skeletons. Whereas the certainty of the δ13C shift across the elusive boundary has recently been confirmed from a number of localities5–8, its interpretation remains largely controversial. It has been attributed to variations in oceanic biomass fertility and concomitant fluxes of organic matter burial6–8, changing rates of ocean ventilation9, onset of biomineralization10 and extraterrestrial causes5. Here we report the results of a carbon isotope study from a hitherto unexplored section of marine sediments in the Lesser Himalaya, India, which documents significant isotope variations across the PC/C boundary. These results also provide important details towards resolving the relative timing of the δ13C shifts and the biotic changes. Evaluation of our data rules out post-depositional isotope exchange as a major cause of the recorded δ13C variations and favours changes in the isotope chemistry of the ocean surface at the close of the Precambrian.
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Aharon, P., Schidlowski, M. & Singh, I. Chronostratigraphic markers in the end-Precambrian carbon isotope record of the Lesser Himalaya. Nature 327, 699–702 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/327699a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/327699a0
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