Alexander, R.D., Zhuravlev, A.Y., Bowyer, F.T. et al. (4 more authors) (2025) Low oxygen but dynamic marine redox conditions permitted the Cambrian Radiation. Science Advances, 11 (4). eads2846. ISSN 2375-2548
Abstract
Whether metazoan diversification during the Cambrian Radiation was driven by increased marine oxygenation remains highly debated. Repeated global oceanic oxygenation events have been inferred during this interval, but the degree of shallow marine oxygenation and its relationship to biodiversification and clade appearance remain uncertain. To resolve this, we interrogate an interval from ~527 to 519 Ma, encompassing multiple proposed global oceanic oxygenation events. We integrate the spatial and temporal distribution of shallow water, in situ reef metazoans, and trilobites, with high-resolution multi-proxy redox data through the highly biodiverse Siberian Platform. We document primarily dysoxic water column conditions, suggesting that early Cambrian metazoans, including motile skeletal benthos, had low oxygen demands. We further document oxygenation events coincident with positive carbon isotope excursions that led to modestly elevated oxygen levels. These events correspond to regional increases in species richness and habitat expansion of mainly endemic species, offering a potentially globally applicable model for biodiversification during the Cambrian Radiation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 the Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/Z000122/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/T008458/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Jan 2025 15:04 |
Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2025 10:43 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Identification Number: | 10.1126/sciadv.ads2846 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:221135 |