Timothy Paulsen
Dept. of Geology, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901, USA,
paulsen@uwosh.edu
Chad Deering
Dept. of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University,
Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA
Jakub Sliwinski
Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Dept. of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092,
Switzerland
Snehamoy Chatterjee
Dept. of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University,
Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA
Olivier Bachman
Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Dept. of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092,
Switzerland
Abstract
Oceans cover 70% of Earth’s surface, setting it apart from the other terrestrial planets in the
solar system, but the mechanisms driving oceanic chemical evolution through time remain an
important unresolved problem. Imbalance in the strontium cycle, introduced, for example, by
increases in continental weathering associated with mountain building, has been inferred from
shifts in marine carbonate 87Sr/86Sr ratios. There are, however,
uncertainties about the spatial and temporal patterns of crustal evolution in Earth’s past,
particularly for the period leading up to the Cambrian explosion of life. Here we show that U-Pb
age and trace element data from a global compilation of detrital zircons are consistent with
marine carbonate 87Sr/86Sr ratios, suggesting changes in radiogenic
continental input into Earth’s oceans over time. Increases in riverine Sr input were related to
the break-up and dispersal of continents, with increased weathering and erosion of a higher
proportion of radiogenic rocks and high-elevation continental crust. Tectonic processes exert a
strong influence on the chemical evolution of the planet’s oceans over geologic time scales and
may have been a key driver for concomitant increases in atmosphere-ocean oxygenation and global
climate cooling.
Manuscript received 14 Oct. 2021. Revised manuscript received 1 Nov. 2021.
Manuscript accepted 4 Nov. 2021. Posted 13 Dec. 2021.
© The Geological Society of America, 2021. CC-BY-NC.
https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG526A.1