TY - JOUR
T1 - Marine phosphorus and atmospheric oxygen were coupled during the Great Oxidation Event
AU - Dodd, Matthew S.
AU - Li, Chao
AU - Gu, Haodong
AU - Zhang, Zihu
AU - Hou, Mingcai
AU - Sadekov, Aleksey
AU - Rosière, Carlos Alberto
AU - Pirajno, Franco
AU - Alcott, Lewis
AU - Ossa, Frantz Ossa
AU - Mills, Benjamin J.W.
AU - Bekker, Andrey
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) represents a major increase in atmospheric O2 concentration between ca. 2430 and 2060 million years ago, culminating in the permanent shift to an oxygenated atmosphere. It’s causes remain debated. Here we use the carbonate-associated phosphate (CAP) proxy to reconstruct oceanic phosphorus concentrations during the GOE from globally distributed sedimentary rocks. We find that the CAP and the inorganic carbon isotope composition of marine sediments co-varied during the GOE, suggesting synchronous fluctuations in marine phosphorus, biological productivity, and atmospheric O₂. Biogeochemical modelling shows that transient increases in P bioavailability can raise oxygenic primary production and organic carbon burial, yielding isotopically heavy seawater inorganic carbon and reproducing the observed patterns. Consequently, geochemical and modelling data together suggest that P availability was a likely contributor to the rapid oxygenation of Earth during the GOE.
AB - The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) represents a major increase in atmospheric O2 concentration between ca. 2430 and 2060 million years ago, culminating in the permanent shift to an oxygenated atmosphere. It’s causes remain debated. Here we use the carbonate-associated phosphate (CAP) proxy to reconstruct oceanic phosphorus concentrations during the GOE from globally distributed sedimentary rocks. We find that the CAP and the inorganic carbon isotope composition of marine sediments co-varied during the GOE, suggesting synchronous fluctuations in marine phosphorus, biological productivity, and atmospheric O₂. Biogeochemical modelling shows that transient increases in P bioavailability can raise oxygenic primary production and organic carbon burial, yielding isotopically heavy seawater inorganic carbon and reproducing the observed patterns. Consequently, geochemical and modelling data together suggest that P availability was a likely contributor to the rapid oxygenation of Earth during the GOE.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019013113
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-64194-4
DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-64194-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 41093832
AN - SCOPUS:105019013113
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 16
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 9151
ER -