A test of the nitrogen-limitation hypothesis for retarded eukaryote radiation: Nitrogen isotopes across a Mesoproterozoic basinal profile

被引:113
作者
Stueeken, Eva E. [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] Univ Washington, Dept Earth & Space Sci, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
[2] Univ Washington, Astrobiol Program, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
MIDPROTEROZOIC NEWLAND FORMATION; LOWER BELT SUPERGROUP; ORGANIC-MATTER; HELENA FORMATION; CARBON ISOTOPES; BANGEMALL GROUP; WESTERN MARGIN; TAOUDENI BASIN; UNITED-STATES; EVOLUTION;
D O I
10.1016/j.gca.2013.06.002
中图分类号
P3 [地球物理学]; P59 [地球化学];
学科分类号
0708 ; 070902 ;
摘要
Nitrogen limitation caused by trace metal scarcity under euxinic ocean conditions has been proposed as an explanation for the delayed radiation of eukaryotes until at least the late Mesoproterozoic. However, evidence for how the nitrogen cycle was operating during the middle Precambrian is, so far, rare. More specifically, it is unknown which steps in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, e.g. nitrogen fixation, nitrification or ammonification, were rate-limiting and thus controlling microbial community structures. The Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup in western Montana hosts a variety of facies ranging from shallow to deep water and thus offers the opportunity to address this issue. Bulk delta N-15 values show a clear trend from -1 parts per thousand in the deepest part of the basin to +5 parts per thousand along basin margins, which suggests that coastal areas were sufficiently oxygenated for aerobic nitrogen cycling. The total fractionation of carbon isotopes between carbonate and organic carbon (Delta C-13) increases from 20 parts per thousand to 32 parts per thousand in the same direction, possibly indicating an ecological response to redox stratification and nitrogen speciation. Evidence from the Belt Supergroup is thus consistent with the idea that nutrient availability may have restricted early eukaryotic organisms to a narrow range of habitats, which thus prevented a global rise to ecological dominance until concentrations of fixed nitrogen increased in the global open ocean. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:121 / 139
页数:19
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