The Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event (NOE) | GEO GIRL

The great oxidation event (GOE) was not the only time that Earth's oxygen content rose significantly. The Neoproterozoic oxidation event increased atmospheric oxygen concentration even more, and even oxidized the ocean... to an extent, but stick around for the early paleozoic oxygen history video for more on the timing and extent of ocean oxygenation.
References:
Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History by Donald E. Canfield (possibly my favorite book ever, highly recommend!): amzn.to/3jcujmW
Earth System History by Steven Stanley: amzn.to/3y65jC8
doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2...
doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.0...
www.nature.com/articles/natur...
doi.org/10.3389/feart.2015.00044
www.nature.com/articles/s4146...
doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2012.06.004
GEO GIRL Website: www.geogirlscience.com/ (visit my website to see all my courses, shop merch, learn more about me, and donate to support the channel if you'd like!)
0:00 What is the NOE?
1:38 When was the NOE?
3:11 What was Neoproterozoic Earth like?
4:10 Evidence for the NOE
5:19 Carbon isotope evidence for NOE
9:27 Sulfur isotope evidence for NOE
11:56 Strontium isotope evidence for NOE
13:53 Redox sensitive trace metal evidence for NOE
16:05 Fossil evidence for NOE
17:18 What caused the NOE?
17:37 Rodinia breakup (the weathering cause?)
18:09 The subduction & insulation cause?
19:52 The soil formation cause?
20:46 The animal cause?
21:36 How NOE affected evolution?
23:35 NOE recap
25:20 Bloopers!
Directly offset your carbon footprint with Wren: shrsl.com/3d0t2
(Just click link, press get started, take the free C footprint quiz, then choose how much you want to reduce your footprint by donating to the C sequestration projects they're funding!)
Non-textbook books I recommend:
Oxygen by D. Canfield: amzn.to/3gffbCL
Brief history of Earth by A. Knoll: amzn.to/3w3hC1I
Life on young planet by A. Knoll: amzn.to/2RBMpny
Some assembly required by N. Shubin: amzn.to/3w1Ezm2
Your inner fish by N. Shubin: amzn.to/3cpw3Wb
Oxygen by N. Lane: amzn.to/3z4FgwZ
Alien Oceans by K. Hand: amzn.to/3clMx1l
Life's Engines: amzn.to/3w1Nhke
Tools I use as a geologist/teacher/student:
Geology field notebook: amzn.to/3lb6dJf
Geology rock hammer: amzn.to/3DZw8MA
Geological compass: amzn.to/3hfbdLu
Geological hand lens: amzn.to/3jXysM5
Camera: amzn.to/3l6fGRT
Carbon-neutral pencil bag: shrsl.com/3cvjv
Carbon-neutral backpack: shrsl.com/3cvkc
Image sources:
www.chegg.com/flashcards/geol...
nephicode.blogspot.com/2017/0...
earthlyuniverse.com/proterozo...
jayarava.blogspot.com/2016/04/...
www.quora.com/How-do-we-know-...
www.snowballearth.org/week13.html
blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk...
eos.org/features/hunting-rare...
Fig. 5 from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Fig. 2 from www.nature.com/articles/natur...
Fig. 8 and 15 (modified) from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
cleantechnica.com/2017/09/18/...
Fig. 15 (modified) from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Fig. 12 and 13 (modified) from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Fig. 7 from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Fig. 2 and 1, respectively, from www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Fig. 3 from www.pnas.org/content/111/39/1...
Fig. 4 from www.nature.com/articles/s4146...
Fig. 4 from www.sciencedirect.com/science...
paleoexhibit.blogspot.com/2015...
Disclaimer: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission, but there is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel!

[@billkallas1762]

After watching your GEO and NEO lectures in the same day, all sorts of thoughts started taking off on a tangent. I started thinking that if the Late Heavy Bombardment lasted from 4.1 to 3.8 Billion years ago, AND Stromatolite formations started producing small amounts oxygen 3.5 Billion years ago, that only leaves 300 million years for bacterial life to take hold. That idea never crossed my mind before. Thank you for not "dumbing down" your lectures. It's been a long time since I've had to listen in "lecture mode"

[@GEOGIRL]

Haha You know your a geologist or at least a geology-educated person when you put the word 'only' in front of 300 million years ;)

[@billkallas1762]

@@GEOGIRL Only a minor in Geology, back in the dark ages. Your lectures bring it all back, like a slap in the face. Thanks again.

[@JasonKale]

I personally like the academic presentation approach compared to a lot of the woo woo vids where its all about the cool animation, spacey music which almost always turns out to be click bate and you get a few seconds of real information. I think ill avoid the Bavlinella faveo late at the coffee shop...haha. The biodiversification reminds me of cosmic inflation theory.

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks! I've always aimed to be a bit more in-depth and academic compared to most science videos out there so sometimes that makes them less popular, but I think it is worth it to show the whole picture :)

[@JasonKale]

@@GEOGIRL You shouldnt say less popular just not discovered yet.

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

HA! Thank you for this! I'm getting closer to the answers to my oldest questions. Ever since Earth Biology 202, in 1988, ALL I've ever been told was..... {The Earth Froze. Volcanic activity pumped CO2 into the Atmosphere.... Then we had Trilobites and Amolacaris, and the Cambrian Explosion!} NO WONDER DARWIN HAD A DILEMMA!!! :0 So many holes in the Early Biology theories. I only learned about Neoproterzoic life in the last 9 years! Thanks to great Online programs like yours! Gen X'ers REJOICE! Trilobites DIDN'T just appear from Bacteria!!!

[@GEOGIRL]

So glad you found this video super helpful! Yes! I totally understand your frusteration, the evolutionary trends during this time are like gap that is never explained, but I am not sure why because to me it's so interesting! I have a video about the Cambrian Explosion itself if you want to check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKrJo5WNfpWemZI ;)

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

@@GEOGIRL of COURSE I am going to check that out!! :D

[@punditgi]

Geo Girl rocks the Casbah! ❤🎉😊

[@harrietharlow9929]

Very interesting. You did a great job on this topic, making it very easy to understand and engaging.

[@GEOGIRL]

Thank you so much!

[@harrietharlow9929]

@@GEOGIRL You're very welcome!

[@srmeister1]

thx for making these videos, its quite unique and i hope your channel grows quickly :) greetings from germany

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks so much! I am glad you think so :) And greetings Germany! So exciting to hear from you, I really want to visit Germany in the near future, there are some amazing oceanographic research institutions over there! :D

[@barbaradurfee645]

Your enthusiasm is delightful!

[@HassanGaba1]

Thank you for making a video on this topic. I had actually been searching to read about the oxidation event that led to the Cambrian Explosion, but didn't actually know what term to search for until today when I stumbled upon this paper which theorises one of the possible causes of NOE to be due to the "Possible link between Earth’s rotation rate and oxygenation". This topic absolutely fascinates me and I'm curious to know why multicellular organisms developed so late after first life developed on earth. Im glad I found your channel and I can't wait to watch all of the videos.

[@GEOGIRL]

Oh I know the great oxidation event is always easier to find information on than the NOE for some odd reason, but I am very glad my video was able to help you :). Thanks for the comment! If you want to know more about why multicellular life evolved later than the first life on Earth, I suggest watching my GOE video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnyZiWZ7fKqXhbs, my life's origins video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppbKpaaOoNpnd5I, my early paleozoic oxygenation history video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYG7YaV4ib56bsk, and/or my snowball earth video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6u8qmyYer-hmNk! Hope you enjoy ;)

[@HassanGaba1]

@@GEOGIRL thank you, this will probably keep me busy for days

[@dmbeaster]

The book Life on a Young Planet is highly recommended on these subjects. Basic theories are the necessity to evolve eukaryotes (there are no multicellular prokaryotes) and this burst of oxygenation covered in this video.

[@rachelharrison5383]

This really helped a lot with my Uni assignment. A big thanks from New Zealand :))

[@GEOGIRL]

So glad it helped! :D

[@i18nGuy]

Great video, although I have to admit the most delightful part is when the closed captioning refers to the ediacaran period as the idiot karen period. (about 2 minutes in.) One question I had though, the NOE is claimed to increase diversification, etc. however, contributing to the NOE is greening and sponges etc. and I wondered if diversification was happening independently and maybe even more causative for NOE rather than the other way around or unrelated.

[@bontlemataboge9325]

Thank you so much for making this video.

[@GEOGIRL]

No, thank you! ;D so glad you enjoyed it! and so glad I am reaching you all the way in South Africa, that makes my heart so happy!

[@jamesmitchell6925]

I love this channel!

[@lopeov3348]

Your videos are always the best !!!!!!

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks so much! I am so glad you like them! :D

[@camelopardalus]

What everyone else said. Me too.

[@PepsiMagt]

This video is amazingly informative. Kudos

[@FreeConscience2]

Excellent!

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@arthureaton8]

A really great video lecture, it's super packed with info! I was wondering if greening of Rodinia was one of the NOE causes, then what was doing the greening? I didn't think land based plants evolved until much later?

[@oliverweeweepie3132]

Hey great video it was purrrrfect

[@GEOGIRL]

Thank you, what a purrrfect comment!

[@Chiavaccio]

Cool!👍👏👏👏👏

[@paarsjesteep]

Thanks - a goldmine of great palaeo data. A problem though - the single most important causative factor, by a wide margin, in both the GOE and NOE, is not even mentioned. Let’s call it by its name: glaciation. Snowball (or even slushball) glaciations coinciding with both events, Huronian with GOE, Cryogenian with NOE. Please check out: A theory of atmospheric oxygen. Laakso TA, Schrag DP. Geobiology 2017 May;15(3):366-84.

[@GEOGIRL]

Yep, I actually talk about the correlation between 'slushball' earths and oxygenation events in my snowball earth video! I don't focus on it as a 'cause' of oxygenation events in this and my GOE video because the glaciation is more of an 'effect' of the oxygenation (or more so the lack of C release or increase in C sink), rather than a 'cause' of oxygenation (but I could certainly be wrong about this), I will check out the reference you provided, thanks! ;D

[@paarsjesteep]

@@GEOGIRL Of course there's lots of theories flying around and you know more of this than I do. Yes oxygenation and atmospheric change may have contributed to the Huronian glaciation. Cause and effect can be hard to resolve, there can be feedbacks. I guess we all go with the last paper we read - I'm still buzzing with Laakso and Schrag! But it's plausible that big glaciation cut off atmospheric O2 from its sink so that even greatly reduced O2 input just built up. There's a role for ocean phosphate as well. L&S talk of three stable levels, archaean (0.01 ppm O2), proterozoic (~1ppm O2) and present (21% O2). The two step up events were global glaciations. In between, stasis is maintained by feedbacks. What does the field think of L&S2017?

[@GEOGIRL]

@@paarsjesteep Yes, I completely agree that the glaciations acted as both causes and effects throughout the slushball periods because there are so many feedback mechanisms associated with glaciation. I think I've always led towards tectonics being the initial cause of everything, which sets off a trend that is then exacerbated by things like glaciation, but you're right I think the slushballs probably did contribute a lot to the oxygenations once they got going :)

[@paarsjesteep]

I’m interested in your suggestion of direct volcanic input of oxygen (or oxides) related to overheated magma, that’s new to me. During the “boring billion” before the NOE and Sturtian-Marinoan glaciations tectonic movements were apparently stalled due to magma being too hot and mobile; then it got going when things cooled a bit and subducted oceanic basalt plate edges stayed intact enough to pull the whole tectonic plates along instead of just breaking up and disintegrating.

[@deepakgehlot795]

Really good

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Anuchan]

I'm not expecting a response, but I noticed a funny inconsistency. You mention that one of the presumed causes of oxygenation was eutrophication, when weathering resulted in increased nutrients in aqueous environments. But eutrophic conditions are associated with anoxic events from bacteria eating the decomposing plant life. Just wondering how to rectify this information. Love your presentation, BTW.

[@isejanus2714]

Loves me some isotropic fractionation in the morning! How did Earth retain the oxygen the mats of algae were producing instead of venting into space? I love your work, you are making a complex and daunting subject interesting and digestible for laymen with interest but not the discipline to dive into it, occasionally questions occur. You are a credit to your discipline.

[@GEOGIRL]

There was thankfully already a CO2, N2, H2O vapor rich atmosphere in place by the time they began producing O2, so once it built up as ozone (O3) in the upper atmosphere, it built up in the rest of the atmosphere as molecular O2. ;) Thanks for the kind comments, so glad you are enjoying my videos ;D

[@videomediamtl997]

It would be interesting to have a video focusing on the evolution of the Atmosphere, chemistry, thickness/pressure (was it always 1ATM at sea level?), amount of opaque clouds impacting photosynthesis, magnetosphere, effect of solar flares, etc

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

To what extent did the reduction of iron and subsequent iron sequestration lead to free oxygen being available for sulphate formation?

[@jaircarloscejagonzalez8469]

Thank you, can you talk about microbial mats?

[@GEOGIRL]

I actually have a full video on microbial mats! ;D -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYXXn4qLr5h_jas

[@JoesFirewoodVideos]

I ❤️ GEO GIRL! I’ve been patiently waiting for this video. Are you a Midwest girl? You sound “normal” to me being a Midwest guy myself. Let me guess you’re in the Chicago area?

[@JoesFirewoodVideos]

25:44 minutes of watch time.

[@JoesFirewoodVideos]

Oh and I 👍🏻 this video just like I do to all of your videos

[@GEOGIRL]

Thanks, I am so glad you like it! And I am actually from just outside of Dallas, Texas haha :) what about you?

[@JoesFirewoodVideos]

I’m in SW Michigan

[@GEOGIRL]

@@JoesFirewoodVideos That's awesome, yea, my mom is from northern Minnesota so maybe if I sound midwestern it's from her, I am not sure haha. :)

[@ianhorsham7751]

I'm no chemist, so forgive my theory if it's off the wall. Would the oxygenation events result in wayer molecules being created (I know the hydrogen does love to bond to other elements)?

[@VijayGoswami-dl9vp]

Hello ma'am please reply me Where are you from ma'am I am BA student i from India 🇮🇳 I am studying geography, please give us information about geography and also tell us the names of the books of geography and gems so that I can read them. Thank you. 🙏🚩🇮🇳

[@sunspot42]

So, if I'm reading this right, sponges contributed to the buildup of oxygen by removing biological "gunk" from the water, reducing the amount of decaying junk in the water that would have otherwise sucked up a lot of oxygen as it rotted?

[@VijayGoswami-dl9vp]

Ripley me ma'am please

[@Flags.crosses.trailerparks]

Weak. Blathering.