Earth system instability explains redox paradox during late Cambrian SPICE event
coexisting with limited seafloor anoxia. We propose that the SPICE and its associated excursions reflect a non-steady-state Earth system behavior, involving oscillations in coupled phosphorus-oxygen-carbon-sulfur and uranium cycles, which influenced the evolution of early animals through redox-dependent biodiversity filters.
Authors
- Timothy M. Lenton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6725-7498)
- Guolin Xiong
- Jianlin Zhou
- Guangying Ren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1030-0342)
- Zhong-Qiang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5341-6913)
- Zi-Heng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4145-612X)
Institutions
- Linyi University (CN)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- China University of Geosciences (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-04-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb9224
- Primary Topic
- Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents
- National Key Research and Development Program of China