Neil S. Suits

The sulfur isotopic composition of Neoproterozoic seawater sulfate: implications for a snowball Earth?

The present study employs a method for analysis of the sulfur isotopic composition of trace sulfate extracted from carbonates collected in Namibia in order to document secular variations in the sulfur isotopic composition of Neoproterozoic oceanic sulfate and to assess variations in the sulfur cycle that may have accompanied profound climatic events that have been described as the snowball Earth hypothesis. The carbonates in the Otavi Group of Northwest Namibia contain 3–295 ppm sulfate. Positive excursions, to a high of 40‰ (CDT), occur above the lower (Chuos Formation) and upper (Ghaub Formation) glacial intervals in the Rasthof and Maieberg cap carbonates, respectively. Positive excursions at the top of the Rasthof Formation (reaching 51‰) and within the overlying Gruis Formation (34‰) do not appear to correspond to glaciation. The δ34Ssulfate values within the Ombaatjie Formation exhibit shifts over relatively short stratigraphic intervals (tens of meters), varying between ∼15 and 25‰. Cap carbonates from Australia exhibit positive δ34Spyrite trends with amplitudes similar to those of Namibian δ34Ssulfate, although, more data are necessary to firmly establish these δ34S trends as global in nature. δ34Ssulfate excursions found in Namibian cap carbonates are consistent with the snowball Earth hypothesis in that they appear to reflect nearly complete reduction of sulfate in an isolated, anoxic global ocean, although, there are other mechanisms that may have facilitated these large shifts in δ34Ssulfate. Regardless, the low sulfate concentrations in Otavi carbonates, the high amplitude variability of the δ34Ssulfate curve, and the apparently full reduction of sulfate (as implied from δ34Spyrite data), even in strata low in Corg, suggest that Neoproterozoic oceanic sulfate concentrations were much lower than modern values. Additionally, the buildup of ferrous iron and banded-iron formations during the Sturtian glacial event would indicate that Fe supply exceeded sulfide availability during the glacials and/or that all sulfide was fixed and buried. This could be construed as further evidence in support of low oceanic sulfate (and sulfide) at this time.

A possible global covariance between terrestrial gross primary production and 13C discrimination: Consequences for the atmospheric 13C budget and its response to ENSO

the potential to influence the 13 C budget of the atmosphere because these changes scale with the relatively large one-way gross primary production (GPP) flux. Over a period of days to years, this atmospheric isotopic forcing is damped by the return flux consisting mostly of respiration, Fire, and volatile organic carbon losses. Here we explore the magnitude of this class of isotopic disequilibria with an ecophysiological model (SiB2) and a double deconvolution inversion framework that includes timevarying discrimination for the period of 1981–1994. If the net land carbon sink and plant 13 C discrimination covary on interannual timescales at the global scale, consistent with

Carbon isotope discrimination of arctic and boreal biomes inferred from remote atmospheric measurements and a biosphere‐atmosphere model

Estimating discrimination against ^(13)C during photosynthesis at landscape, regional, and biome scales is difficult because of large-scale variability in plant stress, vegetation composition, and photosynthetic pathway. Here we present estimates of ^(13)C discrimination for northern biomes based on a biosphere-atmosphere model and on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research remote flask measurements. With our inversion approach, we solved for three ecophysiological parameters of the northern biosphere (^(13)C discrimination, a net primary production light use efficiency, and a temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic respiration (a Q10 factor)) that provided a best fit between modeled and observed δ^(13)C and CO_2. In our analysis we attempted to explicitly correct for fossil fuel emissions, remote C4 ecosystem fluxes, ocean exchange, and isotopic disequilibria of terrestrial heterotrophic respiration caused by the Suess effect. We obtained a photosynthetic discrimination for arctic and boreal biomes between 19.0 and 19.6‰. Our inversion analysis suggests that Q10 and light use efficiency values that minimize the cost function covary. The optimal light use efficiency was 0.47 gC MJ^(−1) photosynthetically active radiation, and the optimal Q10 value was 1.52. Fossil fuel and ocean exchange contributed proportionally more to month-to-month changes in the atmospheric growth rate of δ^(13)C and CO_2 during winter months, suggesting that remote atmospheric observations during the summer may yield more precise estimates of the isotopic composition of the biosphere.

Effect of climate on interannual variability of terrestrial CO2 fluxes

This paper was published as Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2002, 16 (4), GB1102. Copyright

A Compendium of Geochemistry: From Solar Nebula to the Human Brain

Over the past decade, interest in the biogeosciences has expanded at a remarkable rate. This approach to the study of the Earth is by its very nature interdisciplinary and requires an enormous wealth of knowledge. It also requires the ability to make connections between various natural systems and processes. Over a slightly longer period, there has been a widespread effort to document the so-called ‘average’ composition of geologic and biologic units. In a sense, Li has now helped us to take full advantage of this effort and bring this knowledge to bear on questions arising in the biogeosciences. That is because in his new book, A Compendium of Geochemistry: From Solar Nebula to the Human Brain, he has amassed an exhaustive list of data sets, gathered from numerous sources, and documenting the composition of the natural universe.