Strong interplays between eustacy, nitrogen dynamics, and biodiversification between the Ediacaran and Silurian interval

The Ediacaran to Silurian geological interval of the Podolia Basin, southwestern Ukraine, is associated with significant environmental change and biodiversification of morphologically complex biota. Using a multiproxy approach, including total Nitrogen (TN), nitrogen and carbon isotopes, total organic matter (TOC), and whole-rock geochemistry, we show that localised and transient nitrate scarcity may have persisted in otherwise oxygenated and nitrate-replete oceans during the period of extensive animal diversification. Bulk δ 15 N bulk data suggest stable partial denitrification between the middle Ediacaran and Silurian, indicating the existence of a large seawater nitrate reservoir in redox stratified waters that sustained the complex biota. Importantly, the switch to climate warming combined with the nitrate-rich waters in the early Paleozoic triggered a rapid phytoplankton and zooplankton bloom. This transition likely supported efficient nutrient flow to higher trophic levels, resulting in an increase in animal body size, biodiversification, and complexity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Nonetheless, the upper Ediacaran and upper Silurian strata suggest a progressive near-quantitative denitrification with diazotrophic primary production as the primary nitrogen source. The generated nitrate scarcity was likely transient with no significant biological incidence since the early Paleozoic emergence and diversification of animals in the Podolia Basin are well recorded. The shift to dominant lighter marine sedimentary δ 15 N bulk composition perhaps resulted from the expansion of anoxic conditions in open marine environments during the Silurian sea-level rises and falls.

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Publication Details

Journal
Comptes Rendus Géoscience
Published
2025-06-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5802/crgeos.296
Primary Topic
Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Type
article
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article

Strong interplays between eustacy, nitrogen dynamics, and biodiversification between the Ediacaran and Silurian interval

Anastasiia CHUPRYNA, V.A. Nesterovskyi, Ernest Chi Fru, Abderrazak El Albani et al.
Comptes Rendus Géoscience
Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
article

Strong interplays between eustacy, nitrogen dynamics, and biodiversification between the Ediacaran and Silurian interval

Anastasiia CHUPRYNA, V.A. Nesterovskyi, Ernest Chi Fru, Abderrazak El Albani, Kurt O. Konhauser, Olabode M. Bankole, Ibtissam Chraiki, Yevheniia Soldatenko, Bruno Becker-Kerber, Claude Fontaine, Pierre Sans, Andrej Martyshyn, Fatima Abdelfadel, Jérémie Aubineau, Claude Laforest, Alain Meunier
article en

Abstract

The Ediacaran to Silurian geological interval of the Podolia Basin, southwestern Ukraine, is associated with significant environmental change and biodiversification of morphologically complex biota. Using a multiproxy approach, including total Nitrogen (TN), nitrogen and carbon isotopes, total organic matter (TOC), and whole-rock geochemistry, we show that localised and transient nitrate scarcity may have persisted in otherwise oxygenated and nitrate-replete oceans during the period of extensive animal diversification. Bulk δ 15 N bulk data suggest stable partial denitrification between the middle Ediacaran and Silurian, indicating the existence of a large seawater nitrate reservoir in redox stratified waters that sustained the complex biota. Importantly, the switch to climate warming combined with the nitrate-rich waters in the early Paleozoic triggered a rapid phytoplankton and zooplankton bloom. This transition likely supported efficient nutrient flow to higher trophic levels, resulting in an increase in animal body size, biodiversification, and complexity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Nonetheless, the upper Ediacaran and upper Silurian strata suggest a progressive near-quantitative denitrification with diazotrophic primary production as the primary nitrogen source. The generated nitrate scarcity was likely transient with no significant biological incidence since the early Paleozoic emergence and diversification of animals in the Podolia Basin are well recorded. The shift to dominant lighter marine sedimentary δ 15 N bulk composition perhaps resulted from the expansion of anoxic conditions in open marine environments during the Silurian sea-level rises and falls.

Comptes Rendus GéoscienceVol. 357(G1)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (UA), University of Alberta (CA), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Université de Poitiers (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institut de Chimie des Milieux et des Matériaux de Poitiers (FR), Université Ibn Zohr (MA), Evolutionary Genomics (United States) (US), Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie (FR), Institute of Geological Sciences (UA), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (BR), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Dnipro University of Technology (UA), Cardiff University (GB)
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