Nitrogen isotope evidence for stepwise oxygenation of the ocean during the Great Oxidation Event

2019

24 pages; International audience; The Earth’s oxygenation represents one of the most important environmental drivers of life’s evolution, with the first rise, known as ‘the Great Oxidation Event’ (GOE), corresponding to unpreceded accumulation of atmospheric O2, changes in the flux of marine nutrients and possibly global glaciations. However, the detailed evolution of the GOE is still debated, as for instance the accumulation trends of oceanic versus atmospheric oxygen and the nature of biogeochemical responses to oxygenation. Here, we combine organic carbon and bulk nitrogen isotope compositions with major element concentrations and iron speciation data of sedimentary rocks recovered from …