Animal evolution, bioturbation, and the sulfate concentration of the oceans
Open accessAbstract
As recognized already by Charles Darwin, animals are geobiological agents. Darwin observed that worms aerate and mix soils on a massive scale, aiding in the decomposition of soil organic matter. A similar statement can be made about marine benthic animals. This mixing, also known as bioturbation, not only aides in the decomposition of sedimentary organic material, but as contended here, it has also significantly influenced the chemistry of seawater. In particular, it is proposed that sediment mixing by bioturbating organisms resulted in a severalfold increase in seawater sulfate concentration. For this reason, the evolution of bioturbation is linked to the significant deposition of sulfate evaporate minerals, which is largely a phenomena of the Phanerozoic, the last 542 million years and the time over which animals rose to prominence.
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Animals can trigger negative feedbacks through bioturbation, which can decrease atmospheric O2 through enhanced sulfide and organic matter oxidation and phosphorus retention in sediments.
“Rather than stimulating oxygenation, animals can also trigger negative feedbacks through bioturbation, which can decrease the O2 content of the atmosphere through enhanced sulfide and organic matter oxidation and phosphorus retention in the sediments (Canfield and Farquhar, 2009; Boyle et al., 2014; Lenton et al., 2014).”
From Oxygenation, Life, and the Planetary System during Earth's Middle History: An Overview (2021) · cites this paper as Canfield and Farquhar, 2009
Low-sulfate conditions may have been promoted by the extensive burial of pyrite under widespread anoxic or dysoxic bottom waters and by the lack of extensive bioturbation.
“Low-sulfate conditions may have been promoted by the extensive burial of pyrite under widespread anoxic or dysoxic bottom waters (37) and by the lack of extensive bioturbation (41).”
From Mechanism for Burgess Shale-type preservation (2012) · cites this paper as [41]
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- Authors
- Canfield, D. E., & Farquhar, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-05-19
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- 8123-8127
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2688866
- OpenAlex
- W2079798371
- Cited by
- 524
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 13.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
- National Research Foundation
- Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Keywords
- bioturbation, animal evolution, marine benthos, sediment mixing, geobiology, Phanerozoic, Charles Darwin
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Annelida, Behavior, Animal, Calcium Sulfate, Biological Evolution, Invertebrates, Marine Biology, Oceans and Seas, Oxidation-Reduction, Seawater, Sulfates, Geologic Sediments
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