Quantifying pyrite oxidation on continental shelves during the onset of Antarctic glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene transition

Weiqi Yao; Stefan Markovic; Adina Paytan; Andrea M. Erhardt; Ulrich G. Wortmann

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015

Quantifying pyrite oxidation on continental shelves during the onset of Antarctic glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene transition

Weiqi Yao, Stefan Markovic, Adina Paytan, Andrea M. Erhardt, Ulrich G. Wortmann

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Producción científica: Article › revisión exhaustiva

5 Citas (Scopus)

Resumen

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) is characterized by a global cooling trend, falling sea levels, and the onset of Antarctic glaciation. Previous studies investigate the interactions and feedbacks between ocean circulation, weathering, and atmospheric CO₂ levels during this time. Here we explore the role of biogeochemical sulfur cycling, and report seawater sulfate isotope data across the EOT. Our data show that seawater sulfate δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O_SO₄ values decline by 0.6‰ and 1.5‰, respectively, between 34.5 and 33 Ma. Quantitative modeling suggests that approximately 8,000 Gt of the sulfide previously stored in shelf sediments has been reoxidized and transferred to the marine sulfate pool. This reoxidation process proceeds through reactions similar to those associated with acid mine drainage, generating 24,500 Gt sulfuric acid. These numbers are of similar magnitude as those estimated for Pleistocene glaciations and must have affected marine pH and/or alkalinity.

Idioma original	English
Número de artículo	117015
Publicación	Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volumen	568
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015
Estado	Published - ago 15 2021

Nota bibliográfica

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Financiación

We thank H. Li for her support with isotope analyses. This work was supported by a Discovery Grant of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant RGPIN-2018-05873 to U.G.W. and the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant OCE-0449732 to A.P.

Financiadores	Número del financiador
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China	OCE-0449732
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	RGPIN-2018-05873

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
Geochemistry and Petrology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science

ODS de las Naciones Unidas

Este resultado contribuye a los siguientes Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible

Acceder al documento

10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015

Otros archivos y enlaces

Citar esto

@article{b9f08a3e68004a9aa70d50406fe75a07,

title = "Quantifying pyrite oxidation on continental shelves during the onset of Antarctic glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene transition",

abstract = "The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) is characterized by a global cooling trend, falling sea levels, and the onset of Antarctic glaciation. Previous studies investigate the interactions and feedbacks between ocean circulation, weathering, and atmospheric CO2 levels during this time. Here we explore the role of biogeochemical sulfur cycling, and report seawater sulfate isotope data across the EOT. Our data show that seawater sulfate δ34S and δ18OSO4 values decline by 0.6‰ and 1.5‰, respectively, between 34.5 and 33 Ma. Quantitative modeling suggests that approximately 8,000 Gt of the sulfide previously stored in shelf sediments has been reoxidized and transferred to the marine sulfate pool. This reoxidation process proceeds through reactions similar to those associated with acid mine drainage, generating 24,500 Gt sulfuric acid. These numbers are of similar magnitude as those estimated for Pleistocene glaciations and must have affected marine pH and/or alkalinity.",

keywords = "Eocene-Oligocene transition, oxygen isotopes, pyrite oxidation, sulfate, sulfur isotopes",

author = "Weiqi Yao and Stefan Markovic and Adina Paytan and Erhardt, \{Andrea M.\} and Wortmann, \{Ulrich G.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2021",

month = aug,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015",

language = "English",

volume = "568",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Quantifying pyrite oxidation on continental shelves during the onset of Antarctic glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene transition

AU - Yao, Weiqi

AU - Markovic, Stefan

AU - Paytan, Adina

AU - Erhardt, Andrea M.

AU - Wortmann, Ulrich G.

PY - 2021/8/15

Y1 - 2021/8/15

N2 - The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) is characterized by a global cooling trend, falling sea levels, and the onset of Antarctic glaciation. Previous studies investigate the interactions and feedbacks between ocean circulation, weathering, and atmospheric CO2 levels during this time. Here we explore the role of biogeochemical sulfur cycling, and report seawater sulfate isotope data across the EOT. Our data show that seawater sulfate δ34S and δ18OSO4 values decline by 0.6‰ and 1.5‰, respectively, between 34.5 and 33 Ma. Quantitative modeling suggests that approximately 8,000 Gt of the sulfide previously stored in shelf sediments has been reoxidized and transferred to the marine sulfate pool. This reoxidation process proceeds through reactions similar to those associated with acid mine drainage, generating 24,500 Gt sulfuric acid. These numbers are of similar magnitude as those estimated for Pleistocene glaciations and must have affected marine pH and/or alkalinity.

AB - The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) is characterized by a global cooling trend, falling sea levels, and the onset of Antarctic glaciation. Previous studies investigate the interactions and feedbacks between ocean circulation, weathering, and atmospheric CO2 levels during this time. Here we explore the role of biogeochemical sulfur cycling, and report seawater sulfate isotope data across the EOT. Our data show that seawater sulfate δ34S and δ18OSO4 values decline by 0.6‰ and 1.5‰, respectively, between 34.5 and 33 Ma. Quantitative modeling suggests that approximately 8,000 Gt of the sulfide previously stored in shelf sediments has been reoxidized and transferred to the marine sulfate pool. This reoxidation process proceeds through reactions similar to those associated with acid mine drainage, generating 24,500 Gt sulfuric acid. These numbers are of similar magnitude as those estimated for Pleistocene glaciations and must have affected marine pH and/or alkalinity.

KW - Eocene-Oligocene transition

KW - oxygen isotopes

KW - pyrite oxidation

KW - sulfate

KW - sulfur isotopes

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107160700&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85107160700&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015

DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117015

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85107160700

SN - 0012-821X

VL - 568

JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

M1 - 117015

ER -

Quantifying pyrite oxidation on continental shelves during the onset of Antarctic glaciation in the Eocene-Oligocene transition

Resumen

Nota bibliográfica

Financiación

ASJC Scopus subject areas

ODS de las Naciones Unidas

Acceder al documento

Otros archivos y enlaces

Huella

Citar esto