The Neoproterozoic Earth System and the rise of biological complexity

• Grant number: 16/06114-6
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Duration: August 01, 2016 - July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da Trindade
• Grantee: Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da Trindade
• Home Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo, SP, Brazil
• Co-Principal Investigators: Marly Babinski
• Assoc. researchers: Alan Stephen Collins ; André Carrara Morandini ; Anthony Robert Prave ; Antonio Carlos Pedrosa Soares ; Daniel James Condon ; Douglas Galante ; Elder Yokoyama ; Evelyn Aparecida Mecenero Sanchez Bizan ; Fabio Rodrigues ; Federico David Brown Almeida ; Humberto Luis Siqueira Reis ; Jacinta Enzweiler ; Juliana de Moraes Leme Basso ; Magali Ader ; Manoel Souza D'Agrella Filho ; Márcio Reis Custódio ; Matheus Henrique Kuchenbecker Do Amaral ; Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco ; Nicolas Tribovillard ; Paulo César Boggiani ; Pierre Cartigny ; Pierre Sansjofre ; Rachel Alison Waye Wood ; Robert Frei ; Roberto Ventura Santos ; Simone Antonia Kasemann ; Stefan Victor Lalonde ; Tercio Ambrizzi ; Victor Sacek ; Vinícius Tieppo Meira
• Associated grant(s): 18/03001-1 - Paleontological, sedimentological and stratigraphic study of the Ediacaran fossils of the Corumbá group, AV.EXT; 18/09790-8 - Paleomagnetism and paleointensity in the Precambrian of Rio de La Plata Craton, South America, AV.EXT; 18/08149-7 - Determination of the electrical resistivity structure of the crust and lithospheric mantle between the Goiás massIf and the Amazonian Craton, AV.BR; 17/04105-2 - International Symposium on the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition 2017, AR.EXT
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/19926-4 - Taphonomy and preservation of Ediacaran fossils, BP.TT; 18/17854-6 - Faciology of the Polimitic Breccia of the Tamengo Formation (Corumbá group - Ediacaran), BP.IC; 17/24144-2 - Study of carbonate brioprecipitation on simulated planetary surfaces as a potential biosignature, BP.MS; + associated scholarships 17/18840-6 - Testing the Amazônia-West Africa connection and true polar wander in the Neoproterozoic, BP.PD; 17/21584-1 - Geobiological and palaeoenvironmental aspects of Corumbella werneri Hahn et al. (1982) and related biota (Ediacaran, Corumbá group), BP.DR; 17/25433-8 - Trace fossils from Tamengo and Guaicurus formations (Ediacaran-Cambrian), Corumbá group: paleoenvironmental and paleoecological implications, BP.DR; 17/23230-2 - Kinematics and metamorphism of the Xambioá formation: northern Araguaia belt, BP.IC; 17/11590-4 - Magnetic stratigraphy of Araras Group: paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic implications, BP.IC; 17/10467-4 - Geodynamic numerical modelling of the South Atlantic rift system: implications for the Neoproterozoic evolution of the Araçuaí orogen and the São Francisco - Congo cratons, BP.PD; 17/11672-0 - Ediacaran-Cambrian paleogeography study of post-collisional intrusions from Araçuaí belt (es), BP.DR; 17/00325-8 - P-T-t PATHS, AND EXHUMATION AND COOLING RATES OF HOT OROGENS - THE CASE STUDY OF NOVA VENÉCIA COMPLEX, ARAÇUAÍ OROGEN, BP.MS; 17/00399-1 - Chemical weathering and nutrient input into late Ediacaran ocean and their relationship to life diversification, BP.PD; 17/07226-5 - Inventory of the geological heritage of Geopark Bodoquena - Pantanal, BP.IC; 16/25987-0 - Application of petrochronology in the reconstruction of P-T-t (pressure-temperature-time) paths of the northern Borborema Province during the Neoproterozoic, BP.PD; 17/02453-3 - Evolutionary investigation of dolomite biomineralization by EPS secreting bacteria in simulated environments, BP.IC - associated scholarships

Abstract

The late Neoproterozoic witnessed remarkable changes in almost all envelopes of the planet. The biosphere experienced one of its most fundamental evolutionary steps with the rise of complex life forms, which was accompanied by fundamental changes in oceanic deep-water redox conditions, fluctuations between extreme climate modes, and major changes in the configuration of continents. In this context, links between biological innovation and environmental changes are usually implied, but we know little about the relative roles of environmental and biological factors, their effects, and feedbacks involved in the late Neoproterozoic events leading to the ultimate oxygenation of the ocean-atmosphere system and dawn of animal life. We intend to fill these gaps by integrating five sub-projects: (1) a high-resolution sedimentological and geochronological work on four key areas in Brazil and Africa, (2) detailed investigation of the paleontological record on these four successions, and examination of the physiology, ecology and developmental behavior of early metazoans to verify connections between changes in ocean redox and composition with life evolution, (3) a multiple-proxy study of the four sedimentary successions, (4) reconstruction of the still poorly resolved late Neoproterozoic paleogeography, including the magnitude of mountain chains, that represents a key element in climatic and paleoceanographic reconstructions, (5) numerical modelling of the climate-ocean system and biogeochemical cycles in a well-constrained paleogeographic context. The overall objective of the proposal is to understand the controlling role of environmental forcings, in particular the rise of atmospheric oxygen and nutrient availability, on the origin of the metazoan ecosystem and related feedbacks between life, environment and tectonics at the advent of the modern Earth. (AU)