Ancient Sulfur Cycling and Oxygenation of the Early Biosphere

Research Article| April 01, 2010 Ancient Sulfur Cycling and Oxygenation of the Early Biosphere Timothy W. Lyons; Timothy W. Lyons *Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA E-mail: timothy.lyons@ucr.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Benjamin C. Gill Benjamin C. Gill *Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA E-mail: timothy.lyons@ucr.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Timothy W. Lyons *Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA E-mail: timothy.lyons@ucr.edu Benjamin C. Gill *Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA E-mail: timothy.lyons@ucr.edu Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1811-5217 Print ISSN: 1811-5209 © 2010 by the Mineralogical Society of America Elements (2010) 6 (2): 93–99. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.6.2.93 Article history First Online: 09 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 Timothy W. Lyons, Benjamin C. Gill; Ancient Sulfur Cycling and Oxygenation of the Early Biosphere. Elements 2010;; 6 (2): 93–99. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.6.2.93 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 SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract The amount of sulfate in the early ocean was tied directly to oxygen levels in the atmosphere and the deep ocean. These concentrations and other environmentally diagnostic biogeochemical pathways of the sulfur cycle can be expressed through isotope fractionation between sulfate and pyrite. The balance between rising oxygen and sulfate concentrations and varying hydrothermal iron inputs led to a pattern of iron, oxygen, and sulfide domination that varied in time and space in the early deep ocean and was more complex than previously recognized. Through all this change, no element played a bigger role than sulfur as a recorder of early oxygenation of the biosphere and the coevolution of life. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.