Isotopic evidence for temperate oceans during the Cambrian Explosion

Abstract

The Cambrian Explosion was a key event in the evolution of life on Earth. This event took place at a time when sea surface temperatures have been proposed to reach about 60 °C. Such high temperatures are clearly above the upper thermal limit of 38 °C for modern marine invertebrates and preclude a major biological revolution. To address this dichotomy, we performed in situ δ¹⁸O analyses of Cambrian phosphatic brachiopods via secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The δ¹⁸O_phosphate data, which are considered to represent the most primary δ¹⁸O_seawater signature, were identified by evaluating the diagenetic alteration of the analyzed shells. Assuming ice-free conditions for the Cambrian ocean and no change in δ¹⁸O_seawater (-1.4‰ to -1‰; V-SMOW) through time, our temperatures vary between 35 °C ± 12 °C and 41 °C ± 12 °C. They are thus clearly above (1) recent subequatorial sea surface temperatures of 27 °C–35 °C and (2) the upper lethal limit of 38 °C of marine organisms. Our new data can therefore be used to infer a minimal depletion in early Cambrian δ¹⁸O_seawater relative to today of about -3‰. With this presumption, our most pristine δ¹⁸O_phosphate values translate into sea surface temperatures of about 30 °C indicating habitable temperatures for subequatorial oceans during the Cambrian Explosion.