Work

Animal evolution, bioturbation, and the sulfate concentration of the oceans

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: As recognized already by Charles Darwin, animals are geobiological agents. Darwin observed that worms aerate and mix soils on a massive scale, aiding in the decomposition of soil organic matter. A similar statement can be made about marine benthic animals. This mixing, also known as bioturbation, not only aides in the decomposition of sedimentary organic material, but as contended here, it has also significantly influenced the chemistry of seawater. In particular, it is proposed that sediment mixing by bioturbating organisms resulted in a severalfold increase in seawater sulfate concentration. For this reason, the evolution of bioturbation is linked to the significant deposition of sulfate evaporate minerals, which is largely a phenomena of the Phanerozoic, the last 542 million years and the time over which animals rose to prominence.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0902037106

Authors: Donald E. Canfield, James Farquhar

Institutions: University of Southern Denmark, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Research Foundation, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond