Variations of redox conditions in the atmosphere and Yangtze Platform during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition: Constraints from Cr isotopes and Ce anomalies

Abstract The Ediacaran-Cambrian transition was characterized by the evolution from Ediacaran soft-body to Cambrian skeletal organisms, and fluctuations of the marine carbon cycle. Marine redox changes should have played an essential role in both ecological and environmental evolutions; however, temporary changes and spatial distribution of redox conditions in the Ediacaran-Cambrian oceans remain elusive and highly debated. In this study, we analyzed chromium (Cr) isotope and cerium (Ce) anomaly profiles in carbonates from the Upper Ediacaran-Lower Cambrian Dengying and Zhujiaqing formations at the Xiaotan section, South China, in an attempt to provide new insights helping unravel Earth's surface redox changes during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Our results show that these carbonates record generally positive δ53Crauth values (up to 1.15‰) with fluctuations and prominent negative Ce anomalies (Ce/Ce⁎ values down to 0.35), implying a broad increase in oxygenation in the atmosphere and the inner shelf of the Yangtze Platform during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. The first appearance and subsequent diversification of the Cambrian animals may have benefited from this oxygenation event. The pronounced fluctuations of δ53Crauth and δ13Ccarb values can be explained by episodic oxidation of a deep-water DOC pool in a stratified water column across the chemocline through upwelling, releasing light carbon isotopes and organic-matter-bound isotopically unfractionated Cr (III) into shallow waters.