Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation

Recent geochemical data from Oman, Newfoundland, and the western United States suggest that long-term oxidation of Ediacaran oceans resulted in progressive depletion of a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir and potentially triggered the radiation of acanthomorphic acritarchs, algae, macroscopic Ediacara organisms, and, subsequently, motile bilaterian animals. However, the hypothesized coupling between ocean oxidation and evolution is contingent on the reliability of continuous geochemical and paleontological data in individual sections and of intercontinental correlations. Here we report high-resolution geochemical data from the fossil-rich Doushantuo Formation (635-551 Ma) in South China that confirm trends from other broadly equivalent sections and highlight key features that have not been observed in most sections or have received little attention. First, samples from the lower Doushantuo Formation are characterized by remarkably stable delta(13)C(org) (carbon isotope composition of organic carbon) values but variable delta(34)S(CAS) (sulfur isotope composition of carbonate-associated sulfate) values, which are consistent with a large isotopically buffered DOC reservoir and relatively low sulfate concentrations. Second, there are three profound negative delta(13)C(carb) (carbon isotope composition of carbonate) excursions in the Ediacaran Period. The negative delta(13)C(carb) excursions in the middle and upper Doushantuo Formation record pulsed oxidation of the deep oceanic DOC reservoir. The oxidation events appear to be coupled with eukaryote diversity in the Doushantuo basin. Comparison with other early Ediacaran basins suggests spatial heterogeneity of eukaryote distribution and redox conditions. We hypothesize that the distribution of early Ediacaran eukaryotes likely tracked redox conditions and that only after approximately 551 Ma (when Ediacaran oceans were pervasively oxidized) did evolution of oxygen-requiring taxa reach global distribution.