A review of temporal constraints for the Palaeoproterozoic large, positive carbonate carbon isotope excursion (the Lomagundi–Jatuli Event)

The Palaeoproterozoic Lomagundi–Jatuli Event is one of the largest magnitude and earliest known positive carbonate carbon isotope excursions, preserving δ13C values between +5 and +16‰ and even higher. It is recorded in sedimentary rocks on all continents bar Antarctica and spans stratigraphic thicknesses ranging from several to many tens of metres. This unique positive δ13C interval signals fundamental changes in the global carbon cycle and is a key event in Earth system evolution following oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere. Here we present a comprehensive review of the age constraints on the Lomagundi–Jatuli Event, the first such effort in two decades. This new chronology compilation focuses on the U–Pb and Re–Os chronometers and demonstrates that global synchronicity of the Lomagundi–Jatuli Event is permissible, an interpretation supported by the apparent wide dispersion of Lomagundi–Jatuli Event-bearing successions in the most recent Palaeoproterozoic plate reconstructions. Assuming the Lomagundi–Jatuli Event is synchronous worldwide, then the bounds on its duration range from a maximum of 249±9Myr (2306±9Ma to 2057±1Ma) to a minimum of 128±9.4Myr (2221±5Ma to 2106±8Ma).