Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Science. 2012 Jul 20;337(6092):331-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1220224.
The sulfur cycle influences the respiration of sedimentary organic matter, the oxidation state of the atmosphere and oceans, and the composition of seawater. However, the factors governing the major sulfur fluxes between seawater and sedimentary reservoirs remain incompletely understood. Using macrostratigraphic data, we quantified sulfate evaporite burial fluxes through Phanerozoic time. Approximately half of the modern riverine sulfate flux comes from weathering of recently deposited evaporites. Rates of sulfate burial are unsteady and linked to changes in the area of marine environments suitable for evaporite formation and preservation. By contrast, rates of pyrite burial and weathering are higher, less variable, and largely balanced, highlighting a greater role of the sulfur cycle in regulating atmospheric oxygen.
硫循环影响着沉积物有机质的呼吸作用、大气和海洋的氧化状态以及海水的成分。然而，控制海水和沉积物储层之间主要硫通量的因素仍不完全清楚。我们利用宏观地层数据，量化了整个显生宙期间硫酸盐蒸发岩的埋藏通量。现代河流硫酸盐通量的大约一半来自于最近沉积的蒸发岩的风化。硫酸盐埋藏速率是不稳定的，与适合蒸发岩形成和保存的海洋环境面积的变化有关。相比之下，黄铁矿埋藏和风化的速率更高、变化更小且基本平衡，这突出表明硫循环在调节大气氧气方面发挥了更大的作用。
