Saturday, July 29, 2017

Pondering the Precambrian #5

Proterozoic:

Evidence of anoxic and alkaline oceanic conditions in the Vempalle and Tadpatri formations in India from stromatolites.


NeoProterozoic:

The evolution of sponges is reviewed.

Ediacaran:

There was a very negative and unexplained carbon-13 shift during the aftermath of the Snowball Earth episode.

At the dawn of the Ediacaran, during the retreat of the Ghaub Glaciation, the Ediacaran oceans' oxygen levels fluctuated.

Relatives of Cloudina from China are helping our understanding of the Ediacaran biomineralized metazoan.

Using x-ray tomography, attempts are made to interpret trace fossils made by metazoans during the Ediacaran.

Why did metazoans start growing in size during the Ediacaran?

Could the discovery of certain acanthomorphic acritarchs allow for better correlation of different Ediacaran fossils localities?

A unique fossil of Rangea has been found in ironstone and demonstrates a semi rigid skeleton for the Ediacaran critter.

There was an anoxic ocean volume in Brazil during the Ediacaran.

A transitional fauna from the end Ediacaran was found in Nevada.

Cryogenian:

A very thick layer of sediment from the Cryogenian has been found in Death Valley.  Evidence of glacial activity and rifting is present.

Tonian:

Did animals diverge into different lineages in the Tonian prior to the Snowball Earth episode?

The chemical weathering and Rodinia's continental drift in the Tonian contributed to the lead up to the Cryogenian Snowball Earth episode.  It also had a lot of parallels with the lead up to the Huronian Snowball Earth episode.

The evidence of evolutionary radiation of eukaryotes in Africa at the time of the MesoProterozoic/NeoProterozoic boundary.

Vase shaped microfossils have been found in Arizona, USA from the Tonian.

MesoProterozoic:

Was there an oceanic oxygenation spike during the Ectasian 1.36 billion years ago?

Evidence from Mauritania suggests what the paleoecology of the MesoProterozoic might have been like.

PaleoProterozoic:

Examining a paleoproterozoic gold deposit suggests there were two different sources for its carbon content and some caution about inferring the deposition temperatures from Raman spectroscopy.

Examining a paleosol from the Statherian shows atmospheric carbon dioxide was 4.8x preindustrial levels.

Evidence of continental assembly prior to the supercontinent Columbia from Brazil during the Orosirian.

There is evidence of significant geological turmoil during the Orosirian and is interpreted as a true polar wander.

The iron deposits of the Dongshan in China from the Orosirian show evidence of two different sources for the iron.

Siderian fossils from Western Australia seem to show benthic microbial mats seem to have continued to thrive during the Great Oxidation Event.

The evidence from the first known Snowball Earth episode during the Siderian appears to support the Jormungund scenario (slushball earth).

Archean:

Microbial dissimilatory iron reduction was common across the Archean/Proterozoic Boundary.

Plankton-like micro fossils from Australia have been found in South Africa.

Evidence of anaerobic photosynthetic microbes has been found from the PaleoArchean of Australia.

Did life really start on land?

META:

How did the Earth stay warm enough for life despite the Faint Young Star Paradox?

The importance of methane to prebiotic chemistry.

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