资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

The O-18/O-16 of calcite fossils increased by similar to 8 parts per thousand between the Cambrian and present. It has long been controversial whether this change reflects evolution in the delta O-18 of seawater, or a decrease in ocean temperatures, or greater extents of diagenesis of older strata. Here, we present measurements of the oxygen and "clumped" isotope compositions of Phanerozoic dolomites and compare these data with published oxygen isotope studies of carbonate rocks. We show that the delta O-18 values of dolomites and calcite fossils of similar age overlap one another, suggesting they are controlled by similar processes. Clumped isotope measurements of Cambrian to Pleistocene dolomites imply crystallization temperatures of 15-158 degrees C and parent waters having delta O-18(VSMOW) values from -2 to +12 parts per thousand. These data are consistent with dolomitization through sediment/rock reaction with seawater and diagenetically modified seawater, over timescales of 100 My, and suggest that, like dolomite, temporal variations of the calcite fossil delta O-18 record are largely driven by diagenetic alteration. We find no evidence that Phanerozoic seawater was significantly lower in delta O-18 than preglacial Cenozoic seawater. Thus, the fluxes of oxygen-isotope exchange associated with weathering and hydrothermal alteration reactions have remained stable throughout the Phanerozoic, despite major tectonic, climatic and biologic perturbations. This stability implies that a long-term feedback exists between the global rates of seafloor spreading and weathering. We note that massive dolomites have crystallized in pre-Cenozoic units at temperatures >40 degrees C. Since Cenozoic platforms generally have not reached such conditions, their thermal immaturity could explain their paucity of dolomites.