Continental configuration controls ocean oxygenation during the Phanerozoic
Alexandre Pohl1,2, Andy Ridgwell3, Richard G Stockey4
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA. alexandre.pohl@u-bourgogne.fr.
Nature
|August 17, 2022
Summary
Continental drift, not atmospheric oxygen, profoundly altered ocean oxygen levels throughout the Phanerozoic Eon. This research reveals new insights into marine animal evolution and extinction drivers.
Area of Science:
- Earth System Science
- Paleoceanography
- Marine Biology
Background:
- Marine animal evolution and extinction are historically linked to oceanic dissolved oxygen (O2) levels.
- Oceanic oxygen is widely believed to be primarily controlled by atmospheric oxygen (pO2) levels.
Observation:
- Earth system models reveal continental rearrangement during the Phanerozoic Eon significantly impacts ocean oxygenation.
- Profound variations in ocean oxygenation occur independently of atmospheric pO2, challenging previous assumptions.
Findings:
- Continental configuration drives major shifts in ocean oxygenation, decoupling upper-ocean and deep-ocean (benthic) oxygen levels.
- Earth system models identified state transitions in global ocean circulation, causing early Phanerozoic deep-ocean anoxia even with modern atmospheric oxygen.
- Ocean oxygenation exhibits stable thousand-year oscillations, potentially explaining early Paleozoic metazoan radiation and extinction events.
Implications:
- Findings challenge the interpretation of marine redox proxies and the direct correlation between global climate and ocean ventilation.
- Continental configuration plays a critical, previously unrecognized role in the evolution of the marine biosphere.
- This study necessitates a re-evaluation of the primary drivers of marine evolutionary history and extinction events.
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