Production, preservation, and biological processing of mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation in the Archean surface environment
Open accessAbstract
Mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes (S MIF) in Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks provides strong evidence for an anoxic atmosphere before ∼2,400 Ma. However, the origin of this isotopic anomaly remains unclear, as does the identity of the molecules that carried it from the atmosphere to Earth’s surface. Irrespective of the origin of S MIF, processes in the biogeochemical sulfur cycle modify the primary signal and strongly influence the S MIF preserved and observed in the geological record. Here, a detailed model of the marine sulfur cycle is used to propagate and distribute atmospherically derived S MIF from its delivery to the ocean to its preservation in the sediment. Bulk pyrite in most sediments carries weak S MIF because of microbial reduction of most sulfur compounds to form isotopically homogeneous sulfide. Locally, differential incorporation of sulfur compounds into pyrite leads to preservation of S MIF, which is predicted to be most highly variable in nonmarine and shallow-water settings. The Archean ocean is efficient in diluting primary atmospheric S MIF in the marine pools of sulfate and elemental sulfur with inputs from SO 2 and H 2 S, respectively. Preservation of S MIF with the observed range of magnitudes requires the S MIF production mechanism to be moderately fractionating ( 20–40‰). Constraints from the marine sulfur cycle allow that either elemental sulfur or organosulfur compounds (or both) carried S MIF to the surface, with opposite sign to S MIF in SO 2 and H 2 SO 4 . Optimal progress requires observations from nonmarine and shallow-water environments and experimental constraints on the reaction of photoexcited SO 2 with atmospheric hydrocarbons.
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When S8 particles fell to Earth's surface, their S-MIF isotopic composition complemented that of sulfate particles, allowing preservation of different S-MIF signs in sedimentary pyrite and barite.
“In any case, when S8 particles fell to Earth’s surface, their S-MIF isotopic composition complemented that of sulfate particles, allowing preservation of different S-MIF signs in these phases as sedimentary pyrite (FeS2) and barite (BaSO4) (62).”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [62]
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- Authors
- Halevy, I.
- Affiliations
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Halevy, Itay
- ORCID
- Halevy, Itay
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2013-04-09
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 44
- Pages
- 17644-17649
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3816473
- OpenAlex
- W2112619374
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 4.97
- 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)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Keywords
- Archean atmosphere, anoxic atmosphere, marine sulfur cycle, pyrite, elemental sulfur, organosulfur compounds, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, atmospheric hydrocarbons, Archean ocean, Paleoproterozoic, non-marine sediments, shallow water
- MeSH terms
- Anaerobiosis, Archaea, Models, Chemical, Sulfur Isotopes, Geologic Sediments
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