title: Integrated carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen isotope chemostratigraphy of the Ediacaran Lantian Formation in South China: Spatial gradient, ocean redox oscillation, and fossil distribution.
abstract: The Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in South China is a prime target for geobiological investigation because it offers opportunities to integrate chemostratigraphic and paleobiological data. Previous studies were mostly focused on successions in shallow-water shelf facies, but data from deep-water successions are needed to fully understand basinal redox structures. Here, we report δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg, δ34Spyr, δ34SCAS, and δ15Nseddata from a drill core of the fossiliferous Lantian Formation, which is a deep-water equivalent of the Doushantuo Formation. Our data confirm a large (>10‰) spatial gradient in δ13Ccarbin the lower Doushantuo/Lantian formations, but this gradient is probably due to the greater sensitivity of carbonate-poor deep-water sediments to isotopic mixing with13C-depleted carbonate cements. A pronounced negative δ13Ccarbexcursion (EN3) in the upper Doushantuo/Lantian formations, however, is spatially consistent and may be an equivalent of the Shuram excursion. δ34Spyris more negative in deeper-water facies than in shallow-water facies, particularly in the lower Doushantuo/Lantian formations, and this spatial pattern is interpreted as evidence for ocean redox stratification: Pyrite precipitated in euxinic deep waters has lower δ34Spyrthan that formed within shallow-water sediments. The Lantian Formation was probably deposited in oscillating oxic and euxinic conditions. Euxinic black shales have higher TOC and TN contents, but lower δ34Spyrand δ15Nsedvalues. In euxinic environments, pyrite was predominantly formed in the water column and organic nitrogen was predominantly derived from nitrogen fixation or NH4+assimilation because of quantitative denitrification, resulting in lower δ34Spyrand δ15Nsedvalues. Benthic macroalgae and putative animals occur exclusively in euxinic black shales. If preserved in situ, these organisms must have lived in brief oxic episodes punctuating largely euxinic intervals, only to be decimated and preserved when the local environment switched back to euxinia again. Thus, taphonomy and ecology were the primary factors controlling the stratigraphic distribution of macrofossils in the Lantian Formation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.|Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013460:Sulfur Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D013460:Sulfur Isotopes
keywords: Ediacaran Period; Lantian Formation; South China; carbon isotopes; nitrogen isotopes; sulfur isotopes