Stable Isotopic Evidence for the Rise of Oxygen and Reorganization of the Sulfur Cycle from the ca. 2.3 Ga Duitschland Formation, South Africa

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorFarquhar, Jamesen_US
dc.contributor.authorBaker, Margaret Anneen_US
dc.contributor.departmentGeologyen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2007-02-01T19:50:07Z
dc.date.available2007-02-01T19:50:07Z
dc.date.issued2006-12-13en_US
dc.description.abstractMetasedimentary rocks from the Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa, were used in a stable isotopic study to investigate the evolution of the Earth's early atmosphere and early biogeochemical cycles. Sulfur isotopic evidence indicates that the transition from an anoxic to and oxic surface environment is recorded in the Duitschland Formation. The mass-independent fractionation signal (Δ33S and Δ36S) of Precambrian sulfide and sulfate samples diminishes from the Malmani Subgroup at the base of the study area to the top of the Duitschland Formation. Coincidental with the reduced mass-independent fractionation signal is a sizable jump in δ34S and δ13C fractionation related to biological activity. These data suggest that the rise of atmospheric oxygen to levels above which mass-independent fractionation in sulfur species in not effectively recorded occurred at the time of the deposition of the upper Duitschland Formation and was associated with a fundamental reorganization of the carbon and sulfur cycles.en_US
dc.format.extent20513470 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/4049
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledGeologyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledGeochemistryen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledSulfur Cycleen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledEarly Earthen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledAtmospheric Evolutionen_US
dc.titleStable Isotopic Evidence for the Rise of Oxygen and Reorganization of the Sulfur Cycle from the ca. 2.3 Ga Duitschland Formation, South Africaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
umi-umd-4049.pdf
Size:
19.56 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

UMD Theses and Dissertations
Geology Theses and Dissertations