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Tellurium, selenium and cobalt enrichment in Neoproterozoic black shales, Gwna Group, UK: Deep marine trace element enrichment during the Second Great Oxygenation Event
Author(s) -
Armstrong Joseph G. T.,
Parnell John,
Bullock Liam A.,
Perez Magali,
Boyce Adrian J.,
Feldmann Jorg
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/ter.12331
Subject(s) - trace element , geology , oil shale , selenium , weathering , cobalt , geochemistry , group (periodic table) , tellurium , paleontology , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
Black shales of the late Neoproterozoic Gwna Group (570–580 Ma), UK , contain enrichments of tellurium (Te), selenium (Se) and cobalt (Co) relative to average shale compositions. The Te and Co enrichments bear comparison with those of ferromanganese crusts in the modern deep ocean. Gwna Group deposition coincides with the Second Great Oxidation Event, which had a significant effect on trace element fixation globally. Selenium and Te concentrations within these black shales indicate increased continental weathering rates, high biological productivity and corresponding increases in atmospheric O 2 concentrations. Cobalt, nickel (Ni) and arsenic (As) enrichments in this succession are secondary mineralisation phases. Demand for many of the trace elements found enriched in the Gwna Group black shales make their mechanisms of accumulation, and variations through the geological record, important to understand, and suggests that new resources may be sought based on black shale protoliths from this period.