Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record

Kunyu Wu; Tingshan Zhang; Yang Yang; Yuchuan Sun; Daoxian Yuan

doi:10.1007/s12583-016-0693-5

Volume 27 Issue 2

Mar 2016

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Journal of Earth Science > 2016 > 27(2): 211-224.

Kunyu Wu, Tingshan Zhang, Yang Yang, Yuchuan Sun, Daoxian Yuan. Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record. Journal of Earth Science, 2016, 27(2): 211-224. doi: 10.1007/s12583-016-0693-5

Citation:

Kunyu Wu, Tingshan Zhang, Yang Yang, Yuchuan Sun, Daoxian Yuan. Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record. Journal of Earth Science, 2016, 27(2): 211-224. doi: 10.1007/s12583-016-0693-5

Citation:

Kunyu Wu, Tingshan Zhang, Yang Yang, Yuchuan Sun, Daoxian Yuan. Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record. Journal of Earth Science, 2016, 27(2): 211-224. doi: 10.1007/s12583-016-0693-5

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Contribution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis to Palaeo-Oceanic Organic Carbon Sink Fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze Shallow Sea: Evidence from Black Shale Record

doi: 10.1007/s12583-016-0693-5

Kunyu Wu^{1, 2},
Tingshan Zhang^{1
,
,},
Yang Yang¹,
Yuchuan Sun²,
Daoxian Yuan^{2, 3}

1.
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
2.
School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
3.
Karst Dynamics Laboratory, MLR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, CAGS, Guilin 541004, China

More Information

Corresponding author: Tingshan Zhang, zts_3@126.com
Received Date: 05 Sep 2014
Accepted Date: 05 Mar 2015
Publish Date: 01 Apr 2016

Abstract

Abstract

The extensive transgression that occurred on the Yangtze Plate in Early Cambrian led to a massive organic carbon pool in the Niutitang Formation. A black shale core section from 3 251.08 to 3 436.08 m beneath the Earth's surface was studied to estimate the contribution of oxygenic photosynthesis to organic carbon sink fluxes in Early Cambrian Upper Yangtze shallow sea. Results indicate that the oxygenic photosynthesis played the most important role in carbon fixation in Early Cambrian. Organic carbon sink was mainly contributed by photosynthetic microorganisms, e.g., cyanobacteria, algae and archaea. The Niutitang Formation was formed in a deep anoxic marine shelf sedimentary environment at a sedimentation rate of ~0.09±0.03 mm/yr. The initial TOC abundance in Niutitang shale ranged from 0.18% to 7.09%, with an average of 2.15%. In accordance with the sedimentation rate and initial TOC abundance, organic carbon sink fluxes were calculated and found to range from 0.21 to 8.10×10³ kg/km²·yr^-1, especially the organic carbon sink fluxes in depth between 3 385 and 3 470 m range from 3.80 to 8.10×10³ kg/km²·yr^-1, with an average of ~6.03×10³ kg/km²·yr^-1, which is much higher than that of contemporary marine sediments. The organic carbon sink fluxes of Niutitang shale are equal to 0.56 to 21.61×10³ kg/km²·yr^-1 net oxygen emitted into the Early Cambrian ocean and atmosphere, this emitted oxygen may have significantly promoted the oxygen level of the Earth's surface and diversification of metazoans.
- oxygenic photosynthesis,
- organic carbon sink,
- black shale,
- Early Cambrian,
- Upper Yangtze shallow sea

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