Multiple Generations of Carbon in the Apex Chert and Implications for Preservation of Microfossils

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://online.liebertpub.com".While the Apex chert is one of the most well-studied Archean deposits on Earth, its formation history is still not fully understood. Here, we present Raman spectroscopic data collected on the carbonaceous material (CM) present within the matrix of the Apex chert. These data, collected within a paragenetic framework, reveal two different phases of CM deposited within separate phases of quartz matrix. These multiple generations of CM illustrate the difficulty of searching for signs of life in these rocks and, by extension, in other Archean sequences

Enigmatic Red Beds Exposed at Point of Rocks, Cimarron National Grassland, Morton County, Kansas: Chronostratigraphic Constraints from Uranium-Lead Dating of Detrital Zircons

Point of Rocks, a high-relief bluff overlooking the Cimarron River valley in Morton County, Kansas, is capped by distinct white beds of Neogene Ogallala Formation calcrete that overlie red beds of shale, siltstone, and sandstone. These unfossiliferous red beds are currently assigned to the Jurassic System; however, their age has long been debated due to a lack of marker beds, index fossils, and nearby correlative outcrops. As a result, geologists over the years have assigned the rocks to systems ranging from the Permian to the Cretaceous. In this study, four stratigraphic sections were measured in the red beds and three bulk samples were collected to determine the uranium-lead age distributions of detrital zircon (DZ) populations. Red-bed strata composed of fissile shale and sandstone are interpreted as alluvial overbank deposits, while dominantly trough cross-bedded and planar-laminated sandstones are interpreted as tidally influenced fluvial deposits. Detrital zircon age peaks can be grouped into at least seven subpopulations with a youngest single zircon age of 263.8 ± 12.1 Ma, a more conservative age of 293.0 ± 6.95 Ma based on the youngest grouping of three grain ages overlapping at 2σ, and a complete absence of Mesozoic age zircons. In addition, copper oxides along partings and fractures suggest that the red beds once hosted copper sulfides, a common constituent of regional Permian-Triassic red beds. The DZ data--in conjunction with the identification of the Permian Day Creek Dolomite marker bed in logs of nearby drilling tests--strongly suggest that the enigmatic red beds cropping out at the base of Point of Rocks should be assigned to the Guadalupian Big Basin Formation, the uppermost Permian unit in Kansas

Palaeoproxies: botanical monitors and recorders of atmospheric change

The integration of plant and Earth sciences offers the opportunity to develop and test palaeobotanical monitors and recorders (palaeoproxies) of past atmospheric change that are understood from a mechanistic perspective, with the underpinning responses being identified and understood at the genetic level. This review highlights how this approach has been used to deliver two distinct palaeoproxies. The first is based on the negative relationship between stomata (breathing pores found on the leaf surface) and atmospheric CO2 concentration; the second is based on tracking chemical changes seen in the composition of pollen and spores to reconstruct changes in the flux of UV-B radiation on the Earth's surface and from this infer changes in stratospheric processes linked to the eruption and emplacement of Large Igneous Provinces. Here, we highlight the potential of integrating a new rapid, inexpensive chemical analysis technique with existing, robust palynological methods, opening the door to a deeper understanding of past environments via the palaeobiological record. A look to the future suggests a combined solar radiation–CO2 concentration approach could be readily applied across the geological record

Raman spectroscopy and biomarker analysis reveal multiple carbon inputs to a Precambrian glacial sediment

Extractable biomarkers can help elucidate the environment and biota of ancient glaciations, although the method must be applied with care, as glacial sediments have a potential for incorporation of older detrital carbon. In Phanerozoic glacial sediments, the distinct elemental, molecular and isotopic compositions of the terrestrial and marine biomass allow discrimination between primary marine and redeposited terrestrial organic matter. However, as the Proterozoic biosphere was largely microbial and marine, biomarker and isotopic analyses are insufficient for distinguishing primary organic matter from secondary reworked organic matter. Here, we report the combined application of Raman spectroscopy and biomarker analysis to Precambrian glacial sediments, which, together, allows discrimination between mixed pools of organic carbon and provides a promising new approach for rapidly screening Precambrian sediments for immature organic matter amenable to biomarker analysis