4.5 Article

Evolutionary stasis during the Mesoproterozoic Columbia-Rodinia supercontinent transition

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PRECAMBRIAN RESEARCH
Volume 391, Issue -, Pages -

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ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107057

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The delay in eukaryote expansion during the transition between the supercontinents Columbia and Rodina is possibly due to extensive crustal differentiation. This study shows an increase in phosphorus-poor felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks and a low weathering intensity during this transition. The decelerated weathering of these rocks may have limited the flux of bio-essential nutrients to the oceans, leading to low primary productivity and atmospheric oxygen levels, which inhibited biologic radiation during the Columbia-Rodinia supercontinent transition period.
The transition between the supercontinents Columbia and Rodina coincided with a delay in eukaryote expansion during the Mesoproterozoic, however, the cause for this association is uncertain. Here, we use statistical geochemical analyses of igneous and fine-grained siliciclastic rocks to demonstrate that extensive crustal dif-ferentiation occurred during this transition interval. The results show a relative increase in abundance of phosphorus-poor felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks and a prevailing low weathering intensity between -1.8 and 1.2 Ga (billion years ago). The decelerated weathering of phosphorus-poor felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks could have maintained the low flux of bio-essential nutrients to the oceans that sustained low primary productivity and atmospheric O2 levels, which inhibited biologic radiation during the Columbia-Rodinia supercontinent transition period.

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