Isotopes, Ice Ages, and Terminal Proterozoic Earth History

Detailed correlations of ancient glacial deposits, based on temporal records of carbon acid strontium isotopes in seawater, indicate four (and perhaps five) discrete ice ages in the terminal Proterozoic Eon. The close and repeated stratigraphic relationship between C-isotopic excursions and glaciogenic rocks suggests that unusually high rates of organic carbon burial facilitated glaciation by reducing atmospheric greenhouse capacity. The emerging framework of time and environmental change contributes to the improved resolution of stratigraphic and evolutionary pattern in the early fossil record of animals.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

As sucessões carbonáticas neoproterozóicas do Cráton do São Francisco e os depósitos de fosfato: correlações e fosfogênese

Neoproterozoic Carbonate Sequences of the São Francisco Craton and the Phosphate Deposits: Correlation and Phosphogenesis. The neoproterozoic carbonate successions of the São Francisco craton are formed by thick carbonate and siliciclastic strata accumulated in epicontinental seaways, and on passive margins. At least two transgressive-regressive sea level cycles have been recognized during the evolution of the carbonate mega-sequences. These successions, represented by the Vazante, Bambuí, and Una Groups, lie above basal glacio-marine diamictites of probable Sturtian age, and an upper glacio-marine diamictite, was observed in upper units of the Vazante Group. The broad similarities of lithofacies, as well as the presence of phosphate and sulfide (Zn,Pb) deposits restricted to narrow stratigraphic intervals, suggest that the Vazante, Bambuí and Una Groups may be correlative. The Sr isotope data from well preserved carbonates and carbonate fluorapatite from each of these successions, ranging from 0.70763 to 0.70794, support the general correlation and are indicative of seawater composition around 650 Ma, although the lower 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.70614 at the Vazante carbonates may suggest that this unit is older than the Bambuí and Una carbonate rocks. Carbon isotope data of carbonate fluorapatite reveal sharp negative excursions between -3.47 and -12.25‰ VPDB in the cratonic area, and between -1.3 and -9.61‰ VPDB in the carbonate fluorapatite hosted by the passive margin Vazante carbonates, suggesting that primary P concentration was accumulated in strong anoxic environments in both geotectonic settings. Carbonate hosting the phosphate deposits in these units are moderately enriched in 13C, ranging from positive δ13C values of +2.0 and +9.6‰ VPDB in the different sections. Primary phosphate accumulations occur above glaciogenic successions. We suggest that these concentrations may be due to high organic productivity after glacial events

Economics and the Evolution of Non-Party Litigation Funding in America: How Court Decisions, the Civil Justice Process, and Law Firm Structures Drive the Increasing Need and Demand for Capital

This paper views civil litigation initiated by a party seeking money damages through the lens of the underlying economics that impact the civil justice system\u27s ability to achieve fair outcomes. It examines how access to capital has impacted the functioning of civil justice in the United States

Economics and the Evolution of Non-Party Litigation Funding in America: How Court Decisions, the Civil Justice Process, and Law Firm Structures Drive the Increasing Need and Demand for Capital

This paper views civil litigation initiated by a party seeking money damages through the lens of the underlying economics that impact the civil justice system\u27s ability to achieve fair outcomes. It examines how access to capital has impacted the functioning of civil justice in the United States

A composite reference section for terminal Proterozoic strata of southern Namibia

Integrated sequence stratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data yield a framework for correlations of stratigraphic units in the terminal Proterozoic to Cambrian Witvlei and Nama Groups of Namibia. Coupled with precise U-Pb zircon age constraints, these correlations make it possible to construct a composite reference section for use in calibrating terminal Proterozoic chronostratigraphy. The Namibian reference section starts with two distinct glacial horizons and extends up to within 1 million years of the Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary. The two glacial horizons may represent each of two distinct Varanger-age glaciations better known from the North Atlantic region. From the higher of the two glacial horizons up, the composite stratigraphy preserves one of the thickest and most complete available records of carbon-isotope variability in post-Varanger terminal Proterozoic seawater. Four carbon-isotope chemostratigraphic intervals are recognized: (1) a postglacial negative δ^(13)C excursion (Npg interval); (2) a rising interval (Pr interval) of increasing positive delta 13 C values; (3) a falling interval (Pf interval) characterized by decreasing positive δ^(13)C and culminating in near zero or negative values; and (4) an interval of moderately positive, relatively invariant δ^(13)C values (I interval) that extends up to the unconformity that contains the Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary. Each of these chemostratigraphic intervals can be recognized in widely separated correlative sections around the world. By comparing sediment accumulation rate in the radiometrically calibrated Namibian stratigraphy with sediment accumulation rates in correlative sections in Arctic Canada and Oman, a maximum age of 564 Ma is estimated for the end of the younger Varanger glaciation, 25 m.y. younger than previous estimates

Was the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion a globally synchronized early diagenetic event? Insights from methane-derived authigenic carbonates in the uppermost Doushantuo Formation, South China

The Ediacaran Period is characterized by the most profound negative carbon isotope (

Carbon Isotope Variability across the Ediacaran Yangtze Platform in South China: Implications for a Large Surface-to-Deep Ocean δ13C Gradient

New isotope data obtained from relatively conformable, carbonate-rich strata of the Ediacaran Yangtze platform in South China reveal substantial δ13C variability. In platform sections, four negative δ13C anomalies with a nadir down to ≤− 8‰ (PDB) are present in the interval between the cap carbonate level (∼ 635 Ma) and the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary (∼ 542 Ma), while in slope and basinal sections, δ13C values are negative through the entire Doushantuo Formation (∼ 635–551 Ma). If these δ13C values are close to their primary seawater signature, they imply a strong (≥ 10‰) surface-to-deep ocean δ13C gradient that is consistent with long-term deep ocean anoxia and the presence of a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir. The two prominent negative δ13C excursions within the Doushantuo Formation above the cap carbonate level are associated with shoaling and local exposure of the platform. The anomalies may thus record remineralization of a large oceanic DOC pool via sulfate reduction that transferred 13C-depleted carbon from the oceanic DOC reservoir to the surface ocean during regression. Inconsistencies in Ediacaran δ13C profiles globally and variations in South China in particular highlight the need for further evaluation of local departures in δ13C from an inferred average seawater signature

Stable Isotope Record of the Terminal Neoproterozoic Krol Platform in the Lesser Himalayas of Northern India

The terminal Neoproterozoic succession in the Lesser Himalaya of India, including the Infra Krol Formation and Krol Group, represent the thickest known accumulation of carbonate strata of this time period, and hence is an ideal target for chemostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic investigation. High-resolution analyses reveal several negative δ13C excursions. Only one of these is related to known Neoproterozoic ice ages, and many vary in amplitude and stratigraphic position in an oblique regional transect of the platform. A combination of stratigraphic and geochemical tests, and comparison with sections elsewhere, leads to an evaluation of the relative contributions of primary and secondary signals. Two excursions are associated with abrupt facies changes associated with shallowing and accumulation of carbonate in organic-rich restricted environments, or with karstification of a subaerially exposed platform; these are currently interpreted to be diagenetic artifacts. Other negative δ13C excursions are recorded in open marine transgressive facies, and are interpreted to represent biogeochemical anomalies of global significance. The magnitude of these excursions, however, is complicated by their lateral inconsistency between adjacent sections. Two interpretations are proposed. One possibility is that the observed isotopic inconsistency is due to diagenesis not revealed by the application of existing geochemical criteria. A composite δ13C curve constructed under this assumption is broadly consistent with that documented elsewhere, and may reflect modest biogeochemical changes of global scale. An alternative interpretation is that the inconsistency of δ13C values relates to stratigraphic hiatus between correlated horizons, incomplete sampling, and/or lack of appropriate carbonates facies. The composite δ13C curve constructed under this assumption shows large-magnitude (up to 15‰) negative δ13C anomalies that are taken to imply remarkable perturbations of ocean geochemistry and the episodic input of 13C-depleted alkalinity during terminal Neoproterozoic time

Carbonate Platform Growth and Cyclicity at a Terminal Proterozoic Passive Margin, Infra Krol Formation and Krol Group, Lesser Himalaya, India

The Infra Krol Formation and overlying Krol Group constitute a thick (less than 2 km), carbonate-rich succession of terminal Proterozoic age that crops out in a series of doubly plunging synclines in the Lesser Himalaya of northern India. The rocks include 18 carbonate and siliciclastic facies, which are grouped into eight facies associations: (1) deep subtidal; (2) shallow subtidal; (3) sand shoal; (4) peritidal carbonate complex; (5) lagoonal; (6) peritidal siliciclastic–carbonate; (7) incised valley fill; and (8) karstic fill. The stromatolite-rich, peritidal complex appears to have occupied a location seaward of a broad lagoon, an arrangement reminiscent of many Phanerozoic and Proterozoic platforms. Growth of this complex was accretionary to progradational, in response to changes in siliciclastic influx from the south-eastern side of the lagoon. Metre-scale cycles tend to be laterally discontinuous, and are interpreted as mainly autogenic. Variations in the number of both sets of cycles and component metre-scale cycles across the platform may result from differential subsidence of the interpreted passive margin. Apparently non-cyclic intervals with shallow-water features may indicate facies migration that was limited compared with the dimensions of facies belts. Correlation of these facies associations in a sequence stratigraphic framework suggests that the Infra Krol Formation and Krol Group represent a north- to north-west-facing platform with a morphology that evolved from a siliciclastic ramp, to carbonate ramp, to peritidal rimmed shelf and, finally, to open shelf. This interpretation differs significantly from the published scheme of a basin centred on the Lesser Himalaya, with virtually the entire Infra Krol–Krol succession representing sedimentation in a persistent tidal-flat environment. This study provides a detailed Neoproterozoic depositional history of northern India from rift basin to passive margin, and predicts that genetically related Neoproterozoic deposits, if they are present in the High Himalaya, are composed mainly of slope/basinal facies characterized by fine-grained siliciclastic and detrital carbonate rocks, lithologically different from those of the Lesser Himalaya

Integrated chronostratigraphy of Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary beds in the western Anabar region, northern Siberia

Carbonate-rich sedimentary rocks of the western Anabar region, northern Siberia, preserve an exceptional record of evolutionary and biogeochemical events near the Proterozoic/Cambrian boundary. Sedimentologically, the boundary succession can be divided into three sequences representing successive episodes of late transgressive to early highstand deposition; four parasequences are recognized in the sequence corresponding lithostratigraphically to the Manykai Formation. Small shelly fossils are abundant and include many taxa that also occur in standard sections of southeastern Siberia. Despite this coincidence of faunal elements, biostratigraphic correlations between the two regions have been controversial because numerous species that first appear at or immediately above the basal Tommotian boundary in southeastern sections have first appearances scattered through more than thirty metres of section in the western Anabar. Carbon- and Sr-isotopic data on petrographically and geochemically screened samples collected at one- to two-metre intervals in a section along the Kotuikan River, favour correlation of the Staraya Reckha Formation and most of the overlying Manykai Formation with sub-Tommotian carbonates in southeastern Siberia. In contrast, isotopic data suggest that the uppermost Manykai Formation and the basal 26 m of the unconformably overlying Medvezhya Formation may have no equivalent in the southeast; they appear to provide a sedimentary and palaeontological record of an evolutionarily significant time interval represented in southeastern Siberia only by the sub-Tommotian unconformity. Correlations with radiometrically dated horizons in the Olenek and Kharaulakh regions of northern Siberia suggest that this interval lasted approximately three to six million years, during which essentially all 'basal Tommotian' small shelly fossils evolved