Sulfur and carbon isotope records from 1700 to 800Â Ma carbonates of the Jixian section, northern China: Implications for secular isotope variations in Proterozoic seawater and relationships to global supercontinental events

In the late Paleoproterozoic (1700-1600 Ma), a >10‰ decrease in δ34SCAS and ∼3‰ increase in δ13Ccarbonate are coincident with, and likely related to, the breakup of Columbia, a supercontinent that predated Rodinia. Carbon and sulfur isotope data from the Mesoproterozoic, when global tectonic activity was comparatively weaker, fall mostly in the ranges of +15 ± 10‰ and 0 ± 1‰, respectively, but fluctuations of >20‰ for δ34SCAS and >3‰ for the δ13Ccarbonate at ca. 1450-1400 Ma may reflect subduction and large-scale magmatic activity in island arcs marking the end of Columbia breakup. From the late Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1300-1100 Ma) to the early Neoproterozoic (ca. 800 Ma), the δ13C and δ34S of seawater increased gradually with increasing variability. Most impressive areδ34SCAS values that exceed +30‰ in two intervals at ca. 1300-1100 Ma and ca. 1000-900 Ma, which may reflect the assembly and early breakup of Rodinia. Although gaps in the record remain, and studies of even higher resolution are warranted, our results suggest that changes in paleoceanographic conditions linked to global tectonics strongly influenced the biogeochemical cycles of C and S. Furthermore, periods of the Proterozoic previously noted for their isotopic invariability show clear isotopic expressions of this tectonic activity.