Element and isotope geochemistry from iron formations and black shales: new insights into paleoredox conditions during the Paleo- and Neoproterozoic in North and Midwestern Brazil

• Grant number: 18/05892-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2018
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Marly Babinski
• Grantee: Eric Siciliano Rego
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/16235-2 - The co-evolution of life and oxygen on early Earth: a South American perspective, AP.SPEC
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/16271-0 - Element and isotope geochemistry from iron formations, carbonates and black shales: new insights into paleoredox conditions during the Neoarchean, Paleo- and Neoproterozoic in Brazil, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The evolution of the Earth and its processes to sustain life have been a major research topic during the past decades. Questions regarding the planet's habitability, including when the ocean and the atmosphere became oxygen-rich, still imposes challenges to our understanding of how and when these resources evolved. This increase in atmospheric oxygen through Earth's history modulated an evolutionary trend that may have affected and/or delayed the evolution of life. The geological record, particularly iron formations and shales from the Archean/Paleoproterozoic to the Neoproterozoic, are well-suited archives to further explore such relationships before, during and after the rise of atmospheric oxygen. The aim of this study is to understand changes in the redox-state of the ocean-atmosphere system during periods of oxygenation (e.g. whiffs, GOE, and NOE) through trace element abundances (e.g. Mo, Cr and U), and isotope compositions of Fe and Zn from iron formations (IF), organic matter-rich shales (black shales), and in situ Fe isotopes on selected samples from the Carajás mineral province (CMP), Pará Region, and the Santa Cruz Iron deposit of the Jacadigo Group, Mato Grosso do Sul. In addition, Zn isotopes will be analyzed in the previous well-studied samples from Turee Creek, Australia, and by combining these methods, we expect to shed light into the evolving redox state of the early Earth.

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ROSSIGNOL, CAMILLE; ANTONIO, PAUL YVES JEAN; NARDUZZI, FRANCESCO; REGO, ERIC SICILIANO; TEIXEIRA, LIVIA; SOUZA, ROMARIO ALMEIDA DE; SILVA, MARCO A. L.; LANA, CRISTIANO; TRINDADE, RICARDO I. F.; PHILIPPOT, PASCAL; et al. Unraveling one billion years of geological evolution of the southeastern Amazonia Craton from detrital zircon analyses. GEOSCIENCE FRONTIERS, v. 13, n. 5, p. 24-pg., 2022-08-26. (15/16235-2, 18/05892-0, 19/16066-7, 18/02645-2, 18/14617-3, 19/17732-0, 19/12132-5, 17/18840-6)

REGO, ERIC SICILIANO; BUSIGNY, VINCENT; PHILIPPOT, PASCAL. Chemical extraction of iron from carbonate in banded iron formations for isotope analysis. CHEMICAL GEOLOGY, v. 611, p. 13-pg., 2022-11-20. (18/05892-0, 19/16271-0, 15/16235-2)

ROSSIGNOL, CAMILLE; REGO, ERIC SICILIANO; NARDUZZI, FRANCESCO; TEIXEIRA, LIVIA; AVILA, JANAINA N.; SILVA, MARCO A. L.; LANA, CRISTIANO; PHILIPPOT, PASCAL. Stratigraphy and geochronological constraints of the Serra Sul Formation (Carajas Basin, Amazonian Craton, Brazil). Precambrian Research, v. 351, DEC 2020. (19/16066-7, 19/17732-0, 18/14617-3, 19/12132-5, 18/02645-2, 15/16235-2, 18/05892-0)

REGO, ERIC SICILIANO; BUSIGNY, VINCENT; LALONDE, STEFAN V.; ROSSIGNOL, CAMILLE; BABINSKI, MARLY; PHILIPPOT, PASCAL. Low-phosphorus concentrations and important ferric hydroxide scavenging in Archean seawater. PNAS NEXUS, v. 2, n. 3, p. 7-pg., 2023-03-01. (15/16235-2, 19/16271-0, 19/16066-7, 18/05892-0, 18/02645-2)