Shallow water redox conditions of the mid-Proterozoic Muskwa assemblage, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The mid-Proterozoic was a time of apparent prolonged biological and geochemical stability, preceeding the environmental turmoil and rapid biological innovations that characterized the Neoproterozoic. Despite an upswing in work on the mid-Proterozoic over the past decade, basic aspects of the carbon cycle and Earth’s surface redox state during this time period remain poorly understood. To provide a new window into the mid-Proterozoic environmental evolution, we have investigated carbonates in the well-exposed Muskwa Assemblage located in NE British Columbia, Canada, for a combined stratigraphic and geochemical study. Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium (REEY) geochemistry was applied to carbonate..