Eve of biomineralization: Controls on skeletal mineralogy

Abstract

Research Article| December 01, 2008 Eve of biomineralization: Controls on skeletal mineralogy Andrey Yu. Zhuravlev; Andrey Yu. Zhuravlev * 11Área y Museo de Paleontología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/Pedro Cerbuna, E-50009, Zaragoza, Spain *E-mail: ayzhur@mail.ru Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Rachel A. Wood Rachel A. Wood 22School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK, and Edinburgh Collaborative of Subsurface Science and Engineering, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Andrey Yu. Zhuravlev * 11Área y Museo de Paleontología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/Pedro Cerbuna, E-50009, Zaragoza, Spain Rachel A. Wood 22School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK, and Edinburgh Collaborative of Subsurface Science and Engineering, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK *E-mail: ayzhur@mail.ru Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 14 May 2008 Revision Received: 12 Aug 2008 Accepted: 18 Aug 2008 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2008 Geological Society of America Geology (2008) 36 (12): 923–926. https://doi.org/10.1130/G25094A.1 Article history Received: 14 May 2008 Revision Received: 12 Aug 2008 Accepted: 18 Aug 2008 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Andrey Yu. Zhuravlev, Rachel A. Wood; Eve of biomineralization: Controls on skeletal mineralogy. Geology 2008;; 36 (12): 923–926. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G25094A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Carbonate mineralogies have oscillated between aragonite and calcite seas through geological time, proposed to be due mainly to secular variation in the magnesium/calcium ratio driven by changing rates of ocean crust production. A quantitative compilation of inorganic and biominerals from the onset of biomineralization (late Ediacaran–Middle Ordovician) reveals a correspondence between seawater chemistry and the first adopted mineralogy of skeletal clades. Ediacaran–Tommotian skeletons and inorganic precipitates were composed exclusively of aragonite or high-Mg calcite, but these were replaced by low-Mg calcite mineralogies during the early Atdabanian, implying the onset of a calcite sea. This transition is empirically constrained by fluid inclusion data. Late Atbadanian–Botoman inorganic precipitates returned to aragonite, with high-Mg calcite echinoderms and solitary tabulaconids and massive aragonitic tabulaconids originating during this interval. Middle Cambrian–Ordovician inorganic precipitates were low-Mg calcite, and the Ordovician radiation in skeletal expression was due mostly to groups with low-Mg calcite mineralogies. These short-lived transitions can be most parsimoniously explained by minor oscillations of mMg:Ca around ~2 during this period, possibly combined with the progressive onset of greenhouse conditions during the mid-Late Cambrian. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.