Evidence for a redox stratified Cryogenian marine basin, Datangpo Formation, South China

Here, in an effort to explore Cryogenian seawater chemistry, we present chemostratigraphic results for iron, carbon, molybdenum, and sulfur for two outcrop sections for the ca. 663–654 Ma Datangpo Formation deposited between the two major Neoproterozoic glacial episodes (Sturtian and Marinoan) in the Nanhua Basin, South China. Paleogeographic reconstruction suggests that the interglacial Nanhua Basin was an emerging young ocean basin, which opened by rifting from ca. 820–630 Ma. Seawater exchange with the open ocean was restricted; such interglacial conditions may have been a common feature throughout the region and the world in association with widespread rifted margins during global sea-level lowstands. Geochemical profiles generated for the shallow water Yangjiaping and deeper water Minle sections demonstrate broadly consistent stratigraphic variations and generally point to anoxic (mostly euxinic) deep water deposition for the lower black shales but increasing oxygenation for the upper siltstones deposited in shallower water at both sections. Fluctuations in water chemistry recorded in the Datangpo Formation can be explained by a stratified redox model in which water column chemistry was strongly controlled by Fe availability and other nutrient fluxes, low dissolved marine sulfate concentrations, sea level variation, and varying inputs of marine organic carbon delivered via primary production. A compilation of new and published sulfur isotope data for the Datangpo Formation indicates that the extremely 34S-enriched pyrite (up to 69‰) in the basal carbonates and shales was formed mainly in the deep waters of the Nanhua Basin. The most likely explanation is a 34S-enriched deep marine sulfate pool generated, in part, during the Sturtian glaciation by bacterial sulfate reduction in combination with severely suppressed riverine sulfate inputs and restriction of the marginal basin during a dramatic drop in sea level. This study highlights the importance of both global and local controls in determining the chemical conditions in Neoproterozoic marine basins.