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Cited by 515Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsGeochemistry and Elemental AnalysisOrigins and Evolution of Life

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Oceanic nickel depletion and a methanogen famine before the Great Oxidation Event

Konhauser, Kurt O., Pecoits, Ernesto, Lalonde, Stefan V., Papineau, Dominic, Nisbet, Euan G., Barley, Mark E., Arndt, Nicholas T., Zahnle, Kevin, Kamber, Balz S.·2009·Nature
DOI 10.1038/nature07858
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Abstract

It has been suggested that a decrease in atmospheric methane levels triggered the progressive rise of atmospheric oxygen, the so-called Great Oxidation Event, about 2.4 Gyr ago. Oxidative weathering of terrestrial sulphides, increased oceanic sulphate, and the ecological success of sulphate-reducing microorganisms over methanogens has been proposed as a possible cause for the methane collapse, but this explanation is difficult to reconcile with the rock record. Banded iron formations preserve a history of Precambrian oceanic elemental abundance and can provide insights into our understanding of early microbial life and its influence on the evolution of the Earth system. Here we report a decline in the molar nickel to iron ratio recorded in banded iron formations about 2.7 Gyr ago, which we attribute to a reduced flux of nickel to the oceans, a consequence of cooling upper-mantle temperatures and decreased eruption of nickel-rich ultramafic rocks at the time. We measured nickel partition coefficients between simulated Precambrian sea water and diverse iron hydroxides, and subsequently determined that dissolved nickel concentrations may have reached approximately 400 nM throughout much of the Archaean eon, but dropped below approximately 200 nM by 2.5 Gyr ago and to modern day values ( approximately 9 nM) by approximately 550 Myr ago. Nickel is a key metal cofactor in several enzymes of methanogens and we propose that its decline would have stifled their activity in the ancient oceans and disrupted the supply of biogenic methane. A decline in biogenic methane production therefore could have occurred before increasing environmental oxygenation and not necessarily be related to it. The enzymatic reliance of methanogens on a diminishing supply of volcanic nickel links mantle evolution to the redox state of the atmosphere.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Nisbet, E. G. in Komatiites (eds Arndt, N.T. & Nisbet, E.G.) 501–520 (George Allen and Unwin, 1982)
  2. Chester, R. Marine Geochemistry (Blackwell, 2000)

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Metadata

Authors
Konhauser, K. O., Pecoits, E., Lalonde, S. V., Papineau, D., Nisbet, E. G., Barley, M. E., Arndt, N. T., Zahnle, K., & Kamber, B. S.
Affiliations
  • University of Alberta (CA)
  • Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
  • Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
  • The University of Western Australia (AU)
  • Université Joseph Fourier (FR)
  • Ames Research Center (US)
  • Laurentian University (CA)
Corresponding author
Konhauser, Kurt O.
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2009-04
Volume
458
Issue
7239
Pages
750-753
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/nature07858
OpenAlex
W2053767451
Cited by
515
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 32 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 36
FWCI
26.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (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 › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
Keywords
Great Oxidation Event, banded iron formations, methanogenic archaea, nickel cofactor, upper mantle temperature, iron hydroxide
MeSH terms
Atmosphere, Iron, Nickel, Oceans and Seas, Oxidation-Reduction, Seawater, Geologic Sediments, Euryarchaeota

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