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Chemocline instability and isotope variations of the Ediacaran Doushantuo basin in South China

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Abstract

Stable isotope analyses in sections across a shelf to basinal transect of the Ediacaran Doushantuo basin show substantial isotope variabilities. In Songlin section where sediments were deposited in an intrashelf basin, δ 13C values are persistently negative (−3‰ to −5‰, VPDB) through the entire Doushantuo Formation, similar to those obtained from the slope section in Wuhe (−5‰ to −10‰, VPDB). Shallow water sections in Weng’an and Duoding show two broad δ 13C anomalies overprinted with significant meter-scale variations, but none of the curves has similar absolute δ 13C values compared to the Yangtze Gorges areas in South China and other sections globally. Such isotope variations, if partially recording ancient seawater signature, imply spatial and temporal chemocline instability in the Doushantuo basin. In combination with available δ 13C records from other Ediacaran successions globally, the data from the Doushantuo basin are consistent, in first order, with the existence and oxidation of a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir in Ediacaran oceans, but imply local environmental controls on Neoproterozoic isotope values and call attentions for using δ 13C anomalies as time lines in stratigraphic correlation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4010, USA

    GanQing Jiang & XinQiang Wang

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    ShiHong Zhang, XiaoYing Shi & XinQiang Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Geological Process and Mineral Resources, Beijing, 100083, China

    ShiHong Zhang & XiaoYing Shi

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  1. GanQing Jiang
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Correspondence to GanQing Jiang.

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Supported by Ministry of Education of China (Grant Nos. IRT0546 and NCET-04-727), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40621002, 40572019) and the National Science Foundation of USA (Grant No. EAR0745825)

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Jiang, G., Zhang, S., Shi, X. et al. Chemocline instability and isotope variations of the Ediacaran Doushantuo basin in South China. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 51, 1560–1569 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0116-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0116-2

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