The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Low marine sulphate and protracted oxygenation of the Proterozoic biosphere
Open accessAbstract
Progressive oxygenation of the Earth's early biosphere is thought to have resulted in increased sulphide oxidation during continental weathering, leading to a corresponding increase in marine sulphate concentration. Accurate reconstruction of marine sulphate reservoir size is therefore important for interpreting the oxygenation history of early Earth environments. Few data, however, specifically constrain how sulphate concentrations may have changed during the Proterozoic era (2.5-0.54 Gyr ago). Prior to 2.2 Gyr ago, when oxygen began to accumulate in the Earth's atmosphere, sulphate concentrations are inferred to have been <1 mM and possibly <200 microM, on the basis of limited isotopic variability preserved in sedimentary sulphides and experimental data showing suppressed isotopic fractionation at extremely low sulphate concentrations. By 0.8 Gyr ago, oxygen and thus sulphate levels may have risen significantly. Here we report large stratigraphic variations in the sulphur isotope composition of marine carbonate-associated sulphate, and use a rate-dependent model for sulphur isotope change that allows us to track changes in marine sulphate concentrations throughout the Proterozoic. Our calculations indicate sulphate levels between 1.5 and 4.5 mM, or 5-15 per cent of modern values, for more than 1 Gyr after initial oxygenation of the Earth's biosphere. Persistence of low oceanic sulphate demonstrates the protracted nature of Earth's oxygenation. It links biospheric evolution to temporal patterns in the depositional behaviour of marine iron- and sulphur-bearing minerals, biological cycling of redox-sensitive elements and availability of trace metals essential to eukaryotic development.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The rate of change of seawater sulphate sulphur isotope ratios allows us to estimate marine sulphate concentrations through this interval.”
From Possible links between extreme oxygen perturbations and the Cambrian radiation of animals (2019) · cites this paper as [26]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Maximum seawater sulphate concentrations are calculated using the modified 'rate method' 25,26 .”
From Possible links between extreme oxygen perturbations and the Cambrian radiation of animals (2019) · cites this paper as [26]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“We can imagine oceans during the boring billion with appreciable levels of dissolved sulfate (e.g., Kah et al., 2004; Fakhraee et al., 2019; Blättler et al., 2020).”
From Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview (2021) · cites this paper as Kah et al., 2004
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Atmospheric Influence of Earth's Earliest Sulfur Cycle
Farquhar, J., Bao, H., & Thiemens, M. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.289.5480.756 · Cited by 1,805
A new model for Proterozoic ocean chemistry
Canfield, D. E. (1998) · Nature · doi:10.1038/24839 · Cited by 1,243
Proterozoic Ocean Chemistry and Evolution: A Bioinorganic Bridge?
Anbar, A. D., & Knoll, A. H. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1069651 · Cited by 1,191
Interpreting carbon-isotope excursions: carbonates and organic matter
Kump, L. R., & Arthur, M. A. (1999) · Chemical Geology · doi:10.1016/s0009-2541(99)00086-8 · Cited by 1,171
Canfield, D. E., & Teske, A. (1996) · Nature · doi:10.1038/382127a0 · Cited by 869
Calibration of Sulfate Levels in the Archean Ocean
Habicht, K. S., Gade, M., Thamdrup, B., Berg, P., & Canfield, D. E. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1078265 · Cited by 756
Knoll, A. H., Hayes, J. M., Kaufman, A. J., Swett, K., & Lambert, I. B. (1986) · Nature · doi:10.1038/321832a0 · Cited by 650
Calibration of Sulfate Levels in the Archean Ocean
Gao, X., Thiemens, M. H., Farquhar, J. D., Jackson, T. L., Savarino, J., Airieau, S., Albarède, F., van der Hilst, R. D., & Kárason, H. (2002) · Cited by 607
The Archean Sulfur Cycle and the Early History of Atmospheric Oxygen
Canfield, D. E., Habicht, K. S., & Thamdrup, B. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.288.5466.658 · Cited by 497
The isotopic composition of sedimentary sulfur through time
Strauß, H. (1997) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(97)00067-9 · Cited by 452
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Schlesinger, W. H. Biogeochemistry (Academic, San Diego, 1997)
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Algeo, T. J., & Lyons, T. W. (2006) · Paleoceanography · doi:10.1029/2004pa001112 · Cited by 1,194
Self-citationTracing the stepwise oxygenation of the Proterozoic ocean
Scott, C., Lyons, T. W., Bekker, A., Shen, Y., Poulton, S. W., Chu, X., & Anbar, A. D. (2008) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature06811 · Cited by 1,098
Self-citationOxidation of the Ediacaran Ocean
Fike, D. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Pratt, L. M., & Summons, R. E. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05345 · Cited by 989
Takahashi, H., Kopřiva, S., Giordano, M., Saito, K., & Hell, R. (2011) · Annual Review of Plant Biology · doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103921 · Cited by 892
Ferruginous Conditions Dominated Later Neoproterozoic Deep-Water Chemistry
Canfield, D. E., Poulton, S. W., Knoll, A. H., Narbonne, G. M., Ross, G., Goldberg, T., & Strauss, H. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1154499 · Cited by 789
Metadata
- Authors
- Kah, L. C., Lyons, T. W., & Frank, T. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- University of Missouri (US)
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kah, Linda C.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2004-10
- Volume
- 431
- Issue
- 7010
- Pages
- 834-838
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2097417202
- Cited by
- 482
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 14.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lincoln (University of Nebraska) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Keywords
- sulfur isotopes, sulfide oxidation, continental weathering, early Earth atmosphere, eukaryotic evolution, trace metal availability, redox-sensitive elements
- MeSH terms
- Atmosphere, Calcium Sulfate, Carbonates, Environment, Eukaryotic Cells, Biological Evolution, Oxygen, Seawater, Sulfates, Time Factors, Geologic Sediments
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
