Increasing global ocean oxygenation and the Ordovician Radiation: Insights from Th/U of carbonates from the Ordovician of western Utah

The Cambrian and Ordovician radiations were the most important biodiversification events in the history of animal life, yet they were separated by intervals of recurrent anoxic sedimentation and regional biomere extinction events in the Late Cambrian and Early Ordovician. Recent work linked biomere extinction events to positive carbon isotopic excursions interpreted to represent enhanced organic matter burial under anoxic conditions. This led to the hypothesis that an increase in oceanic oxygenation following the last of the biomere extinctions paved the way for the rapid diversification of the Ordovician Radiation. Here we test the hypothesis of increasing ocean oxygenation using Th/U preserved in carbonate rocks from the Lower–Middle Ordovician succession near Ibex, Utah, USA. The global seawater uranium inventory is expected to vary inversely with the amount of deep-water anoxic deposition due to uranium sequestration in black shales. Therefore in shallow water carbonates higher Th/U ratios may reflect increased global ocean anoxia. Our data show that the highest Th/U values are coincident with the heaviest carbon isotopic values reported from the base of this succession, which is latest Tremadocian in age. Th/U then decreases and remains low through the Floian up through the contact with the Kanosh Formation, a shale-dominated unit with interspersed limestone units. The geochemistry of the carbonates within the Kanosh Formation likely represents local rather than global conditions in the marine environment. We interpret the overall decrease in Th/U ratios throughout the Tremadocian to Floian interval to represent an increase in global seawater uranium concentration. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that an increase in ocean oxygenation occurred prior to the major pulses of diversification associated with the Ordovician Radiation. •Th/U can be used as a global redox proxy in carbonate rocks.•The Ordovician Radiation was likely delayed due to biomere extinctions.•An increase in oxygen follows the last Early Ordovician biomere extinction.•Increased oxygen likely suppressed further biomere extinction events.