Extreme Fluctuations in Oxygen, Not A Gradual Rise, May Have Sparked the Cambrian Explosion
Now, a new study suggests that wild swings in oxygen levels may have sent life scrambling to adapt, leading to a major burst of diversity. That, says lead author Guangyi Wei of Yale University, challenges the long-held explanation that gradually rising oxygen simply reached a life-fueling tipping point. The study was just published online ahead of print in Geology.
Credit: Nobu Tamura / Wikimedia Commons
The results revealed huge global swings from anoxic-completely depleted in oxygen to oxygenated conditions over periods of two to ten million years. Such big ups and downs in oxygen, the scientists suggest, could have destabilized ecosystems, fragmented habitats, and triggered an explosion of changing life forms.
The study provides some of the first direct evidence that the Cambrian explosion came on the heels of major variations in oxygen, says Wei. “It would be great to get more data from other regions and time intervals,” he adds.
Wei also poses the obvious next question: what caused such huge swings in oxygen in the first place? Some possibilities: Tectonics, biological processes, or climate shifts.
Kea Giles
Geological Society of America
Citation: Marine redox fluctuation as a potential trigger for the Cambrian explosion.
Guang-Yi Wei, Noah J. Planavsky, Lidya G. Tarhan, Xi Chen, Wei Wei, Da Li, Hong-Fei Ling. Geology, 2018; DOI: 10.1130/G40150.1
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2018/06/extreme-fluctuations-in-oxygen-not.html
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