PP015
Global Environmental Changes and Increased Biological Complexity in the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic
Session ID#: 247755
Session Description:
Dramatic environmental changes happened during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic, including (1) multiple global glaciations (i.e., Snowball Earth events), (2) a general rise in atmospheric oxygen, (3) significant excursions in carbon isotopes, potentially reflecting changes in the carbon cycle, ocean pH, and climate, and (4) geological changes such as continental configuration (e.g., Rodinia, Gondwana, and Pangea) and large igneous province volcanism. At the same time, major leaps forward in biological complexity occurred. Life transitioned from small eukaryotes (e.g., green algae) to large, complex animals and plants during this time – with milestones like the Ediacara biota and the Cambrian explosion. Although the increase in biological complexity and the environmental changes are likely related, causes and relationships remain uncertain.Welcome contributions to this session include new field data for changes in the terrestrial and marine environment and/or biota, models for environmental change and/or biota, and work exploring links between biology and environment.
Co-Sponsor(s):
Index Terms:
0444 Evolutionary geobiology [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
1630 Impacts of global change [GLOBAL CHANGE]
9614 Paleozoic [INFORMATION RELATED TO GEOLOGIC TIME]
9622 Proterozoic [INFORMATION RELATED TO GEOLOGIC TIME]
Primary Convener: Trent Thomas, University of Washington, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Seattle, United States
Conveners: David C. Catling, University of Washington, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Seattle, United States, Mary Droser, University of California Riverside, Riverside, United States and Robin Wordsworth, Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States
Student/Early Career Convener: Trent Thomas, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
Repeated Snowball-hothouse cycles within the Neoproterozoic Sturtian Glaciation (1873383)
Charlotte Minsky, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, Robin Wordsworth, Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States, David Johnston, Harvard University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, United States and Andrew H Knoll, Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge, MA, United States
Hyalophane: An overlooked sedimentary barium mineral and its implications on past seawater sulfate concentration and paleo-productivity (1903711)
Tao Han, Institute Of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China, Zhitong Lu, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China and Huiming Bao, Nanjing University, International Center for Isotope Effects Research, Nanjing, China
Seasonal O2 Availability Impacted the Emergence and Diversification of Ediacaran Fauna (1956342)
Émilie Anne Laflèche1, Roger N Bryant2, Brian P. H. Metzger3 and Stephanie L. Olson1, (1)Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, United States, (2)Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, West Lafayette, United States, (3)Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, West Lafayette, United States
Neoproterozoic Biomarker Records: Secular Trends and Local Environmental Impacts (1958093)
Adriana Rizzo, Andrey Bekker2, Yijun Xiong3, Karl E Karlstrom4, Francis Macdonald5, Simon W Poulton3 and Gordon D Love2, (1)University of California Riverside, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Riverside, United States, (2)University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds, United Kingdom, (3)University of New Mexico Main Campus, Albuquerque, United States, (4)University of California Berkeley, Earth and Planetary Science, Berkeley, United States
Discovery of the Oldest Fossils of the White Sea Assemblage from the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Canada (1963213)
Scott Evans, American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States; Florida State University, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Tallahassee, United States, Erik A Sperling, Stanford University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Stanford, United States, Kimberly V Lau, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences, University Park, United States and Justin Vincent Strauss, Dartmouth College, Department of Earth Sciences, Hanover, United States
Ediacaran time-averaged ultralow field and the Avalon explosion (2001245)
John Anthony Tarduno, University of Rochester, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rochester, NY, United States; University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester, United States, Jack Schneider, University of Rochester, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rochester, NY, United States, Wentao Huang, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China and Mauricio Ibañez Mejia, University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, United States
