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New insights into Archean sulfur cycle from mass-independent sulfur isotope records from the Hamersley Basin, Australia
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ono, Shuhei Eigenbrode, Jennifer L. Pavlov, Alexander A. Kharecha, Pushker A. Rumble, Douglas Iii Kasting, James F. Freeman, Katherine H. |
| Copyright Year | 2003 |
| Abstract | We have measured multiple sulfur isotope ratios ( 34 S/ 33 S/ 32 S) for sulfide sulfur in shale and carbonate lithofacies from the Hamersley Basin, Western Australia. The v 33 S values (v 33 SWN 33 S30.515UN 34 S) shift from 31.9 to +6.9x over a 22-m core section of the lower Mount McRae Shale (V2.5 Ga). Likewise, sulfide sulfur analyses of the Jeerinah Formation (V2.7 Ga) yield v 33 S values of 30.1 to +8.1x over a 50-m section of core. Despite wide variations in v 33 S and N 34 S, these two shale units yield a similar positive correlation between v 33 S and N 34 S. In contrast, pyrite sulfur analyses of the Carawine Dolomite (V2.6 Ga) yield a broad range in N 34 S (+3.2 to +16.2x) but a relatively small variation and negative values in v 33 S( 32.5 to 31.1x). The stratigraphic distribution of N 33 S, N 34 S, and v 33 S in Western Australia allows us to speculate on the sulfur isotopic composition of Archean sulfur reservoirs and to trace pathways in the Archean sulfur cycle. Our data are explained by a combination of massindependent fractionation (MIF) in the atmosphere and biological mass-dependent fractionation in the ocean. In the Archean, volcanic, sulfur-bearing gas species were photolysed by solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in an oxygen-free atmosphere, resulting in MIF of sulfur isotopes. Aerosols of S8 (with v 33 Ss 0) and sulfuric acid (with v 33 S6 0) formed from the products of UV photolysis and carried mass-independently fractionated sulfur into the hydrosphere. The signatures of atmospheric photolysis were preserved by precipitation of pyrite in sediments. Pyrite precipitation was mediated by microbial enzymatic catalysis that superimposed mass-dependent fractionation on mass-independent atmospheric effects. Multiple sulfur isotope analyses provide new insights into the early evolution of the atmosphere and the evolution and distribution of early sulfur-metabolizing organisms. A 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. |
| Starting Page | 15 |
| Ending Page | 30 |
| Page Count | 16 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00295-4 |
| Volume Number | 213 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2003/2003_Ono_on02000x.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X%2803%2900295-4 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
