Post-Snowball Earth deglaciation enhanced phosphate (PO4) supply to seawater, boosting marine primary production and ocean-atmosphere oxygenation. This study investigates the mechanisms behind this, focusing on the role of clay minerals produced by melting Sturtian Snowball ice sheets. The authors demonstrate a causal link between clay mineral production and a short-lived, at least 20-fold increase in seawater phosphate bioavailability, leading to oxygenation of a post-Sturtian ocean margin. Before and after this event, a low marine phosphate inventory limited productivity and oxygenation.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Dec 18, 2023
Authors
Ernest Chi Fru, Jalila Al Bahri, Christophe Brosson, Olabode Bankole, Jérémie Aubineau, Abderrazzak El Albani, Alexandra Nederbragt, Anthony Oldroyd, Alasdair Skelton, Linda Lowhagen, David Webster, Wilson Y. Fantong, Benjamin J. W. Mills, Lewis J. Alcott, Kurt O. Konhauser, Timothy W. Lyons
Tags
Snowball Earth
deglaciation
phosphate bioavailability
marine production
ocean oxygenation
clay minerals
Sturtian
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