ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8430-8744
Current Organisation
Australian National University
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Geochemistry | Organic Geochemistry Not Elsewhere Classified | Organic Geochemistry | Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) | Palaeoecology | Palaeoecology | Soil And Water Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | Environmental Chemistry (Incl. Atmospheric Chemistry) | Natural Products Chemistry | Geology | Natural Resource Management | Sedimentology | Igneous And Metamorphic Petrology | Microbial Ecology | Other Stratigraphy (Incl. Sequence Stratigraphy) | Palaeontology | Analytical Chemistry | Palaeoclimatology | Analytical Spectrometry | Environmental Science and Management | Separation Science | Ecological Applications | Climatology (Incl. Palaeoclimatology) | Plant Physiology | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Ecosystem Function | Environmental Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Earth sciences | Oil and gas | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Biological sciences | Climate change | Oil and Gas Exploration | Physical and chemical conditions | Land and water management | Environmental and resource evaluation not elsewhere classified | Climate variability | Air quality | Physical and chemical conditions | Land and water management | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Climate Variability (excl. Social Impacts) | Land and water management | Land and water management | Zinc Ore Exploration | Water services and utilities | Environmental health | Expanding Knowledge in the Chemical Sciences |
Related Links
Publications
Impact of drill core contamination on compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
Update on the third international stroke trial (IST-3) of thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke and baseline features of the 3035 patients recruited
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-11-2011
Microfossils from the late Mesoproterozoic – early Neoproterozoic Atar/El Mreïti Group, Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania, northwestern Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2017
Transformative epistemologies for regenerative tourism: towards a decolonial paradigm in science and practice?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-05-2023
Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 13-08-1999
DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.285.5430.1033
Abstract: Molecular fossils of biological lipids are preserved in 2700-million-year-old shales from the Pilbara Craton, Australia. Sequential extraction of adjacent s les shows that these hydrocarbon biomarkers are indigenous and syngenetic to the Archean shales, greatly extending the known geological range of such molecules. The presence of abundant 2α-methylhopanes, which are characteristic of cyanobacteria, indicates that oxygenic photosynthesis evolved well before the atmosphere became oxidizing. The presence of steranes, particularly cholestane and its 28- to 30-carbon analogs, provides persuasive evidence for the existence of eukaryotes 500 million to 1 billion years before the extant fossil record indicates that the lineage arose.
Phylogenetic and biochemical evidence for sterol synthesis in the bacterium Gemmata obscuriglobus (vol 100, pg 15352, 2003)
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 16-03-2004
Lipid taphonomy in the Proterozoic and the effect of microbial mats on biomarker preservation
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Date: 06-11-2012
DOI: 10.1130/G33525.1
Molecular fossils from organically preserved Ediacara biota reveal cyanobacterial origin for Beltanelliformis
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-01-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-017-0438-6
Abstract: The Ediacara biota (~575-541 million years ago) mark the emergence of large, complex organisms in the palaeontological record, preluding the radiation of modern animal phyla. However, their phylogenetic relationships, even at the domain level, remain controversial. We report the discovery of molecular fossils from organically preserved specimens of Beltanelliformis, demonstrating that they represent large spherical colonies of cyanobacteria. The conservation of molecular remains in organically preserved Ediacaran organisms opens a new path for unravelling the natures of the Ediacara biota.
Millimeter-scale concentration gradients of hydrocarbons in Archean shales: Live-oil escape or fingerprint of contamination?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2011
A reconstruction of Archean biological diversity based on molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion-year-old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2003
Putative sponge biomarkers in unicellular Rhizaria question an early rise of animals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-03-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0806-5
Abstract: The dawn of animals remains one of the most mysterious milestones in the evolution of life. The fossil lipids 24-isopropylcholestane and 26-methylstigmastane are considered diagnostic for demosponges-arguably the oldest group of living animals. The widespread occurrence and high relative abundance of these biomarkers in Ediacaran sediments from 635-541 million years (Myr) ago have been viewed as evidence for the rise of animals to ecological importance approximately 100 Myr before their rapid Cambrian radiation. Here we show that the biosynthesis of 24-isopropylcholestane and 26-methylstigmastane precursors is common among early-branching unicellular Rhizaria-heterotrophic protists that play an important role in trophic cycling and carbon export in the modern ocean. Negating these hydrocarbons as sponge biomarkers, our study places the oldest evidence for animals closer to the Cambrian Explosion. Cambrian silica hexactine spicules that are approximately 535 Myr old now represent the oldest diagnostic sponge remains, whereas approximately 558-Myr-old Dickinsonia and Kimberella (Ediacara biota) provide the most reliable evidence for the emergence of animals. The proliferation of predatory protists may have been responsible for much of the ecological changes during the late Neoproterozoic, including the rise of algae, the establishment of complex trophic relationships and the oxygenation of shallow-water habitats required for the subsequent ascent of macroscopic animals.
Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient and Thriving Cities: Opportunities and Challenges for Planning Future Cities
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2022
Geological alteration of Precambrian steroids mimics early animal signatures.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-11-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-020-01336-5
Abstract: The absence of unambiguous animal body fossils in rocks older than the late Ediacaran has rendered fossil lipids the most promising tracers of early organismic complexity. Yet much debate surrounds the various potential biological sources of putative metazoan steroids found in Precambrian rocks. Here we show that 26-methylated steranes-hydrocarbon structures currently attributed to the earliest animals-can form via geological alteration of common algal sterols, which carries important implications for palaeo-ecological interpretations and inhibits the use of such unconventional 'sponge' steranes for reconstructing early animal evolution.
Reassessing the first appearance of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2008
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE07381
Abstract: The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis had a profound impact on the Earth's surface chemistry, leading to a sharp rise in atmospheric oxygen between 2.45 and 2.32 billion years (Gyr) ago and the onset of extreme ice ages. The oldest widely accepted evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis has come from hydrocarbons extracted from approximately 2.7-Gyr-old shales in the Pilbara Craton, Australia, which contain traces of biomarkers (molecular fossils) indicative of eukaryotes and suggestive of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria. The soluble hydrocarbons were interpreted to be indigenous and syngenetic despite metamorphic alteration and extreme enrichment (10-20 per thousand) of (13)C relative to bulk sedimentary organic matter. Here we present micrometre-scale, in situ (13)C/(12)C measurements of pyrobitumen (thermally altered petroleum) and kerogen from these metamorphosed shales, including s les that originally yielded biomarkers. Our results show that both kerogen and pyrobitumen are strongly depleted in (13)C, indicating that indigenous petroleum is 10-20 per thousand lighter than the extracted hydrocarbons. These results are inconsistent with an indigenous origin for the biomarkers. Whatever their origin, the biomarkers must have entered the rock after peak metamorphism approximately 2.2 Gyr ago and thus do not provide evidence for the existence of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria in the Archaean eon. The oldest fossil evidence for eukaryotes and cyanobacteria therefore reverts to 1.78-1.68 Gyr ago and approximately 2.15 Gyr ago, respectively. Our results eliminate the evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis approximately 2.7 Gyr ago and exclude previous biomarker evidence for a long delay (approximately 300 million years) between the appearance of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria and the rise in atmospheric oxygen 2.45-2.32 Gyr ago.
Substantial maturity influence on carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of n-alkanes in sedimentary rocks
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Nature-based solutions for sustainable, resilient, and equitable cities
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 08-08-2023
14C analysis of aliphatic hydrocarbon fractions from the hypersaline Lake Tyrrell, southeast Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2014
Genetics re-establish the utility of 2-methylhopanes as cyanobacterial biomarkers before 750 million years ago
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 07-11-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-2202848/V1
Abstract: Fossilized lipids offer one of only few windows into ancient ecosystems. The utility of such biomarkers is determined by the phylogenetic distribution of lipid biosynthetic capabilities in extant organisms and extrapolation of this information into the past. 2-Methylhopanes in sedimentary rocks were once used to infer the importance of Cyanobacteria as primary producers in the geological past. However, the discovery of the hopanoid C-2 methyltransferase (HpnP) in Alphaproteobacteria led to the downfall of this molecular proxy. In the present study, we re-examined the distribution of HpnP in a new phylogenetic framework including novel candidate phyla, and re-interpreted a revised geological record of 2-methylhopanes based on contamination-free s les. We show that HpnP was likely present in the last common ancestor of Cyanobacteria, while the gene appeared in Alphaproteobacteria only around 750 million years ago. A subsequent rise of sedimentary 2-methylhopanes around 600 Ma likely reflects the expansion of Alphaproteobacteria that coincided with the rise of eukaryotic algae — possibly connected by algal dependency on microbially-produced vitamin B12. Our findings re-establish 2-methylhopanes as cyanobacterial biomarkers prior to 750 Ma and thus as a potential tool to measure the importance of oxygenic Cyanobacteria as primary producers on the early Earth. Our study illustrates how genetics can improve the diagnostic value of biomarkers and refine the reconstruction of early ecosystems.
Genetics re-establish the utility of 2-methylhopanes as cyanobacterial biomarkers before 750 million years ago
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-10-2023
Guts, gut contents, and feeding strategies of Ediacaran animals
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2022.10.051
Abstract: The oldest animals appear in the fossil record among Ediacara biota communities. They prelude animal-dominated ecosystems of the Phanerozoic and may hold clues to the appearance of modern animal phyla in the Cambrian explosion. However, little is known about the phylogeny of the Ediacaran organisms and even less about their diet and feeding behavior.
Intracellular bound chlorophyll residues identify 1 Gyr-old fossils as eukaryotic algae
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-01-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-021-27810-7
Abstract: The acquisition of photosynthesis is a fundamental step in the evolution of eukaryotes. However, few phototrophic organisms are unambiguously recognized in the Precambrian record. The in situ detection of metabolic byproducts in in idual microfossils is the key for the direct identification of their metabolisms. Here, we report a new integrative methodology using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence and absorption. We evidence bound nickel-geoporphyrins moieties in low-grade metamorphic rocks, preserved in situ within cells of a ~1 Gyr-old multicellular eukaryote, Arctacellularia tetragonala . We identify these moieties as chlorophyll derivatives, indicating that A. tetragonala was a phototrophic eukaryote, one of the first unambiguous algae. This new approach, applicable to overmature rocks, creates a strong new proxy to understand the evolution of phototrophy and ersification of early ecosystems.
Food sources for the Ediacara biota communities
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-03-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-020-15063-9
Abstract: The Ediacara biota represents the first complex macroscopic organisms in the geological record, foreshadowing the radiation of eumetazoan animals in the Cambrian explosion. However, little is known about the contingencies that lead to their emergence, including the possible roles of nutrient availability and the quality of food sources. Here we present information on primary producers in the Ediacaran based on biomarker molecules that were extracted from sediments hosting Ediacaran macrofossils. High relative abundances of algal steranes over bacterial hopanes suggest that the Ediacara biota inhabited nutrient replete environments with an abundance of algal food sources comparable to Phanerozoic ecosystems. Thus, organisms of the Ediacara biota inhabited nutrient-rich environments akin to those that later fuelled the Cambrian explosion.
The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE23457
Abstract: The transition from dominant bacterial to eukaryotic marine primary productivity was one of the most profound ecological revolutions in the Earth's history, reorganizing the distribution of carbon and nutrients in the water column and increasing energy flow to higher trophic levels. But the causes and geological timing of this transition, as well as possible links with rising atmospheric oxygen levels and the evolution of animals, remain obscure. Here we present a molecular fossil record of eukaryotic steroids demonstrating that bacteria were the only notable primary producers in the oceans before the Cryogenian period (720-635 million years ago). Increasing steroid ersity and abundance marks the rapid rise of marine planktonic algae (Archaeplastida) in the narrow time interval between the Sturtian and Marinoan 'snowball Earth' glaciations, 659-645 million years ago. We propose that the incumbency of cyanobacteria was broken by a surge of nutrients supplied by the Sturtian deglaciation. The 'Rise of Algae' created food webs with more efficient nutrient and energy transfers, driving ecosystems towards larger and increasingly complex organisms. This effect is recorded by the concomitant appearance of biomarkers for sponges and predatory rhizarians, and the subsequent radiation of eumetazoans in the Ediacaran period.
Radiocarbon analysis of halophilic microbial lipids from an Australian salt lake
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.YQRES.2011.10.003
Abstract: Assigning accurate dates to hypersaline sediments opens important terrestrial records of local and regional paleoecologies and paleoclimatology. However, as of yet no conventional method of dating hypersaline systems has been widely adopted. Biomarker, mineralogical, and radiocarbon analyses of sediments and organic extracts from a shallow (13 cm) core from a hypersaline playa, Lake Tyrrell, southeastern Australia, produce a coherent age-depth curve beginning with modern microbial mats and extending to ~ 7500 cal yr BP. These analyses are furthermore used to identify and constrain the timing of the most recent change in hydrological regime at Lake Tyrrell, a shift from a clay deposit to the precipitation of evaporitic sands occurring at some time between ~ 4500 and 7000 yr. These analyses show the potential for widespread dating of hypersaline systems integrating the biomarker approach, reinforce the value of the radiocarbon content of biomarkers in understanding the flow of carbon in modern ecologies, and validate the temporal dimension of data provided by biomarkers when dating late Quaternary sediments.
Cryogenian evolution of stigmasteroid biosynthesis
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 09-2017
Abstract: Biosynthesis of C 29 sterols, enhancing eukaryotic temperature resistance, evolved during the global Neoproterozoic glaciations.
Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 03-11-2017
Abstract: We review recent observations and models concerning the dynamics of Cryogenian global glaciation and their biological consequences.
Discovery of the oldest known biomarkers provides evidence for phototrophic bacteria in the 1.73 Ga Wollogorang Formation, Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-03-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12390
Building the biomarker tree of life
Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America
Date: 2005
Co-producing transformative visions for Europe in 2100: A multi-scale approach to orientate transformations under climate change
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Biomarkers (Organic, Compound-Specific Isotopes)
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2011
Sedimentary Hydrocarbons, Biomarkers for Early Life
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2003
A palaeoecological model for the late Mesoproterozoic – early Neoproterozoic Atar/El Mreïti Group, Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania, northwestern Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Effect of alteplase on the CT hyperdense artery sign and outcome after ischemic stroke
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 09-12-2015
De novo metagenomic assembly reveals abundant novel major lineage of Archaea in hypersaline microbial communities
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2011
A social-ecological-technological systems framework for urban ecosystem services
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-06-2023
The first tetrapod remains from the Upper Jurassic Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2021
Nature-based solutions for circular urban water systems: A scoping literature review and a proposal for urban design and planning
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Effects of sulfide minerals on aromatic maturity parameters: Laboratory investigation using micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2014
Early sponges and toxic protists: possible sources of cryostane, an age diagnostic biomarker antedating Sturtian Snowball Earth
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-10-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12165
Abstract: The period 800-717 million years (Ma) ago, in the lead-up to the Sturtian Snowball glaciation, saw an increase in the ersity of eukaryotic microfossils. To afford an independent and complementary view of this evolutionary period, this study presents the distribution of eukaryotic biomarkers from three pre-Sturtian successions across the supercontinent Rodinia: the ca. 780 Ma Kanpa Formation of the Western Australian Officer Basin, the ca. 800-740 Ma Visingsö Group of Sweden, and the 740 Ma Chuar Group in Arizona, USA. The distribution of eukaryotic steranes is remarkably similar in the three successions but distinct from all other known younger and older sterane assemblages. Cholestane was the only conventional structure, while indigenous steranes alkylated in position C-24, such as ergostane, stigmastane, dinosterane and isopropylcholestane, and n-propylcholestane, were not observed. This sterane distribution appears to be age diagnostic for the pre-Sturtian Neoproterozoic. It attests to the distinct evolutionary state of pre-Snowball eukaryotes, pointing to a taxonomic disparity that was still lower than in the Ediacaran (635-541 Ma). All three basins also show the presence of a new C28 sterane that was tentatively identified as 26-methylcholestane, here named cryostane. The only known extant organisms that can methylate sterols in the 26-position are demosponges. This assignment is plausible as molecular clocks place the appearance of the earliest animals into the pre-Sturtian Neoproterozoic. The unusual 26-methylsterol may have protected sponges, but also other eukaryotes, against their own membranolytic toxins. Some protists release lytic toxins to deter predators and kill eukaryotic prey. As conventional membrane sterols can be the site of attack for these toxins, sterols with unusual side-chain modification protect the cell. This interpretation of cryostane supports fossil evidence of predation in the Chuar Group and promotes hypotheses about the proliferation of eukaryophagy in the lead-up to the Cryogenian.
Biomarkers (Molecular fossils)
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2011
Sporulenes, heptaprenyl metabolites from Bacillus subtilis spores
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 17-07-2008
DOI: 10.1021/OL801314K
Unravelling ancient microbial history with community proteogenomics and lipid geochemistry
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2009
DOI: 10.1038/NRMICRO2167
Abstract: Our window into the Earth's ancient microbial past is narrow and obscured by missing data. However, we can glean information about ancient microbial ecosystems using fossil lipids (biomarkers) that are extracted from billion-year-old sedimentary rocks. In this Opinion article, we describe how environmental genomics and related methodologies will give molecular fossil research a boost, by increasing our knowledge about how evolutionary innovations in microorganisms have changed the surface of planet Earth.
1.1-billion-year-old porphyrins establish a marine ecosystem dominated by bacterial primary producers
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 09-07-2018
Abstract: The oceans of Earth’s middle age, 1.8–0.8 billion years ago, were devoid of animal-like life. According to one hypothesis, the emergence of large, active organisms was restrained by the limited supply of large food particles such as algae. Through the discovery of molecular fossils of the photopigment chlorophyll in 1.1-billion-year-old marine sedimentary rocks, we were able to quantify the abundance of different phototrophs. The nitrogen isotopic values of the fossil pigments showed that the oceans were dominated by cyanobacteria, while larger planktonic algae were scarce. This supports the hypothesis that small cells at the base of the food chain limited the flow of energy to higher trophic levels, potentially retarding the emergence of large and complex life.
Low-carbon built environments and cardiometabolic health: a systematic review of Australian studies
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-05-2022
Urban sustainability science: prospects for innovations through a system’s perspective, relational and transformations’ approaches
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-03-2021
Origin and significance of aromatic hydrocarbons in giant iron ore deposits of the late Archean Hamersley Basin, Western Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2003
Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in cities: A systematic literature review and a proposal for facilitating urban transitions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2023
Exceptional preservation of hopanoid and steroid biomarkers in Ediacaran sedimentary rocks of the East European Craton
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2018
Constraining the thermal history of the North American Midcontinent Rift System using carbonate clumped isotopes and organic thermal maturity indices
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Black shale deposition and early diagenetic dolomite cementation during Oceanic Anoxic Event 1: The mid-Cretaceous Maracaibo Platform, northwestern South America
Publisher: American Journal of Science (AJS)
Date: 26-08-2016
DOI: 10.2475/07.2016.03
Priorities for mainstreaming urban nature-based solutions in Australian cities
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2023
Synthesis of 26-methyl cholestane and identification of cryostanes in mid-Neoproterozoic sediments
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
Simple sediment rheology explains the Ediacara biota preservation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-03-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-019-0820-7
Abstract: The soft-bodied Ediacara biota (571-541 million years ago) represents the oldest complex large organisms in the fossil record, providing a bridge between largely microbial ecosystems of the Precambrian and the animal-dominated world of the Phanerozoic, potentially holding clues about the early evolution of Metazoa. However, the nature of most Ediacaran organisms remains unresolved, partly due to their enigmatic non-actualistic preservation. Here, we show that Flinders-style fossilization of Ediacaran organisms was promoted by unusually prolonged conservation of organic matter, coupled with differences in rheological behaviour of the over- and underlying sediments. In contrast with accepted models, cementation of overlying sand was not critical for fossil preservation, which is supported by the absence of cement in unweathered White Sea specimens and observations of soft sediment deformation in South Australian specimens. The rheological model, confirmed by laboratory simulations, implies that Ediacaran fossils do not necessarily reflect the external shape of the organism, but rather the morphology of a soft external or internal organic 'skeleton'. The rheological mechanism provides new constraints on biological interpretations of the Ediacara biota.
Integrating solutions to adapt cities for climate change
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Organic geochemistry and mineralogy. I. Characterisation of organic matter associated with metal deposits
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2013
Shared Predictive Cross-Modal Deep Quantization
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 11-2018
The role of nature-based solutions and senses of place in enabling just city transitions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2023
An integrated process for planning, delivery, and stewardship of urban nature-based solutions: The Connecting Nature Framework
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2023
Are α-centered peptide radicals stabilized by a capto-dative effect?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-1997
Biological diversification linked to environmental stabilization following the Sturtian Snowball glaciation
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 25-08-2023
Abstract: The body fossil and biomarker records hint at an increase in biotic complexity between the two Cryogenian Snowball Earth episodes (ca. 661 million to ≤650 million years ago). Oxygen and nutrient availability can promote biotic complexity, but nutrient (particularly phosphorus) and redox dynamics across this interval remain poorly understood. Here, we present high-resolution paleoredox and phosphorus phase association data from multiple globally distributed drill core records through the non-glacial interval. These data are first correlated regionally by litho- and chemostratigraphy, and then calibrated within a series of global chronostratigraphic frameworks. The combined data show that regional differences in postglacial redox stabilization were partly controlled by the intensity of phosphorus recycling from marine sediments. The apparent increase in biotic complexity followed a global transition to more stable and less reducing conditions in shallow to mid-depth marine environments and occurred within a tolerable climatic window during progressive cooling after post-Snowball super-greenhouse conditions.
Early animals out in the cold
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-2009
DOI: 10.1038/457672A
Biomarker evidence for green and purple sulphur bacteria in a stratified Palaeoproterozoic sea
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2005
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE04068
Abstract: The disappearance of iron formations from the geological record approximately 1.8 billion years (Gyr) ago was the consequence of rising oxygen levels in the atmosphere starting 2.45-2.32 Gyr ago. It marks the end of a 2.5-Gyr period dominated by anoxic and iron-rich deep oceans. However, despite rising oxygen levels and a concomitant increase in marine sulphate concentration, related to enhanced sulphide oxidation during continental weathering, the chemistry of the oceans in the following mid-Proterozoic interval (approximately 1.8-0.8 Gyr ago) probably did not yet resemble our oxygen-rich modern oceans. Recent data indicate that marine oxygen and sulphate concentrations may have remained well below current levels during this period, with one model indicating that anoxic and sulphidic marine basins were widespread, and perhaps even globally distributed. Here we present hydrocarbon biomarkers (molecular fossils) from a 1.64-Gyr-old basin in northern Australia, revealing the ecological structure of mid-Proterozoic marine communities. The biomarkers signify a marine basin with anoxic, sulphidic, sulphate-poor and permanently stratified deep waters, hostile to eukaryotic algae. Phototrophic purple sulphur bacteria (Chromatiaceae) were detected in the geological record based on the new carotenoid biomarker okenane, and they seem to have co-existed with communities of green sulphur bacteria (Chlorobiaceae). Collectively, the biomarkers support mounting evidence for a long-lasting Proterozoic world in which oxygen levels remained well below modern levels.
Principles for urban nature-based solutions
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-01-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S13280-021-01685-W
Abstract: Nature-based solutions (NBS) were introduced as integrated, multifunctional and multi-beneficial solutions to a wide array of socio-ecological challenges. Although principles for a common understanding and implementation of NBS were already developed on a landscape scale, specific principles are needed with regard to an application in urban areas. Urban areas come with particular challenges including (i) spatial conflicts with urban system nestedness, (ii) specific urban bio ersity, fragmentation and altered environments, (iii) value plurality, multi-actor interdependencies and environmental injustices, (iv) path-dependencies with cultural and planning legacies and (v) a potential misconception of cities as being artificial landscapes disconnected from nature. Given these challenges, in this perspective paper, we build upon and integrate knowledge from the most recent academic work on NBS in urban areas and introduce five distinct, integrated principles for urban NBS design, planning and implementation. Our five principles should help to transcend governance gaps and advance the scientific discourse of urban NBS towards a more effective and sustainable urban development. To contribute to resilient urban futures, the design, planning, policy and governance of NBS should (1) consider the need for a systemic understanding, (2) contribute to benefiting people and bio ersity, (3) contribute to inclusive solutions for the long-term, (4) consider context conditions and (5) foster communication and learning.
FROM CALIGARI TO JOKER: the clown prince of crime’s psychopathic science
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-10-2022
Proterozoic ocean chemistry and the evolution of complex life
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2006
Preservation of hemicellulose remnants in sedimentary organic matter
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Assessing biomarker syngeneity using branched alkanes with quaternary carbon (BAQCs) and other plastic contaminants
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2008
Evidence for ancient halophiles? Testing biomarker syngeneity of evaporites from Neoproterozoic and Cambrian strata
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Local paleoenvironmental controls on the carbon-isotope record defining the Bitter Springs Anomaly
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-10-2017
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12217
Abstract: Large magnitude (>10‰) carbon-isotope (δ
Microbial assemblage and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the 1.38 Ga Velkerri Formation, McArthur Basin, northern Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-02-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12331
A transformative mission for prioritising nature in Australian cities
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-03-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S13280-022-01725-Z
Abstract: Australia is experiencing mounting pressures related to processes of urbanisation, bio ersity loss and climate change felt at large in cities. At the same time, it is cities that can take the leading role in pioneering approaches and solutions to respond to those coupling emergencies. In this perspective piece we respond to the following question: What are the required transformations for prioritising, valuing, maintaining and embracing nature in cities in Australia? We adopt the mission framework as an organising framework to present proposed pathways to transform Australian cities as nature-positive places of the future. We propose three interconnected pathways as starting actions to steer urban planning, policy and governance in Australian cities: First, cities need to establish evidence-based planning for nature in cities and mainstream new planning tools that safeguard and foreground urban nature. Second, collaborative planning needs to become a standard practice in cities and inclusive governance for nature in cities needs to prioritise Aboriginal knowledge systems and practices as well as look beyond what local governments can do. Third, for progressing to nature-positive cities, it is paramount to empower communities to innovate with nature across Australian cities. Whilst we focus on Australian cities, the lessons and pathways are broadly applicably globally and can inspire science-policy debates for the post COP15 bio ersity and COP26 climate change implementation processes.
Oligoprenyl-curcumanes and other new aromatic isoprenoids from the 1.64 billion year old Barney Creek Formation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2009
Okenane, a biomarker for purple sulfur bacteria (Chromatiaceae), and other new carotenoid derivatives from the 1640 Ma Barney Creek Formation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2008
The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-07-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12462
De NovoSequences ofHaloquadratum walsbyifrom Lake Tyrrell, Australia, Reveal a Variable Genomic Landscape
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1155/2015/875784
Abstract: Hypersaline systems near salt saturation levels represent an extreme environment, in which organisms grow and survive near the limits of life. One of the abundant members of the microbial communities in hypersaline systems is the square archaeon, Haloquadratum walsbyi . Utilizing a short-read metagenome from Lake Tyrrell, a hypersaline ecosystem in Victoria, Australia, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of H. walsbyi to better understand the extent of variation between strains/subspecies. Results revealed that previously isolated strains/subspecies do not fully describe the complete repertoire of the genomic landscape present in H. walsbyi . Rearrangements, insertions, and deletions were observed for the Lake Tyrrell derived Haloquadratum genomes and were supported by environmental de novo sequences, including shifts in the dominant genomic landscape of the two most abundant strains. Analysis pertaining to halomucins indicated that homologs for this large protein are not a feature common for all species of Haloquadratum . Further, we analyzed ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC-type transporters) for evidence of niche partitioning between different strains/subspecies. We were able to identify unique and variable transporter subunits from all five genomes analyzed and the de novo environmental sequences, suggesting that differences in nutrient and carbon source acquisition may play a role in maintaining distinct strains/subspecies.
Algal origin of sponge sterane biomarkers negates the oldest evidence for animals in the rock record
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-11-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-020-01334-7
Abstract: The earliest fossils of animal-like organisms occur in Ediacaran rocks that are approximately 571 million years old. Yet 24-isopropylcholestanes and other C
Characterisation of the major dust storm that traversed over eastern Australia in September 2009; a multidisciplinary approach
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
Tailing of chromatographic peaks in GC-MS caused by interaction of halogenated solvents with the ion source
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 18-06-2014
Abstract: The injection of analytes into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system using dichloromethane (DCM) as solvent led to gradual deterioration of chromatographic signals, with significant tailing and loss of sensitivity for C17+ hydrocarbons. The injector, gas chromatograph and transfer line were excluded as causes. Normal peak shape could only be restored by the insertion of a cleaned MS ion source. To elucidate potential surficial contaminants, the ion source was heated from 260 to 320°C, leading to the release of increasing concentrations of ferrous chloride [FeCl2(g)]. The ferrous chloride probably formed through the decomposition of DCM on metal surfaces in the ion source. We posit that the tailing was caused by the adsorption of analytes to sub-µm layers of FeCl2 at crystal defect sites in the metal, followed by the slow release of molecules back into the gas phase. There are at least two other cases in the literature in which tailing is specifically associated with the use of halogenated solvents. However, it is possible that the problem is relatively common, albeit rarely diagnosed and reported. The tailing of chromatographic peaks caused by the formation of ferrous chloride in the mass spectrometer can be diagnosed by scanning the MS background signal for the diagnostic isotopic pattern of FeCl2(+). The problem is easily solved by cleaning the MS ion source and avoiding halogenated solvents.
Mixed H-Infinity and Passive Filtering for Discrete Fuzzy Neural Networks With Stochastic Jumps and Time Delays
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 04-2016
Transformative low-carbon urban innovations: Operationalizing transformative capacity for urban planning
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-11-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S13280-021-01653-4
Abstract: Cities can set in motion sustainability transitions through experimentation and innovation. To invest in and mainstream solutions that contribute to urban transformation agendas, urban planners needs to understand which innovations have transformational potential as well as how these innovations can accelerate sustainability transitions. In order to explore this, existing frameworks of transformative capacity provide the guidance, but they are generic, abstract, and challenging to apply for urban planning. As part of our effort to develop a more operational version of the transformative capacity framework by Wolfram (2016), we conducted a systematic scoping review of the academic literature to determine the characteristics of people-based and nature-based low-carbon innovations that constitutes their transformative capacity. After reviewing 65 records, we identified dimensions indicating each of the transformative capacity components through analysis and synthesis. Besides contributing to the science-policy interface through a knowledge synthesis on low-carbon people-based and nature-based innovations, this paper examines bridging frameworks to inform urban planners in developing practical solutions and actionable elements for low-carbon urban futures.
Advancing urban transitions and transformations research
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
Identification of carotane breakdown products in the 1.64billion year old Barney Creek Formation, McArthur Basin, northern Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2011
Therapeutic Anticoagulation with Heparin in Noncritically Ill Patients with Covid-19
Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
Date: 26-08-2021
Ancient steroids establish the Ediacaran fossil
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 21-09-2018
Abstract: The enigmatic Ediacara biota (571 million to 541 million years ago) represents the first macroscopic complex organisms in the geological record and may hold the key to our understanding of the origin of animals. Ediacaran macrofossils are as "strange as life on another planet" and have evaded taxonomic classification, with interpretations ranging from marine animals or giant single-celled protists to terrestrial lichens. Here, we show that lipid biomarkers extracted from organically preserved Ediacaran macrofossils unambiguously clarify their phylogeny.
The composition and weathering of the continents over geologic time
Publisher: European Association of Geochemistry
Date: 03-2021
Reassessment of thermal preservation of organic matter in the Paleoproterozoic McArthur River (HYC) Zn-Pb ore deposit, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Comparison of U37K', TEX86H and LDI temperature proxies for reconstruction of south-east Australian ocean temperatures
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
Transformative roles in tourism: adopting living systems' thinking for regenerative futures
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-05-2022
Abstract: The “tourism living systems” (Tourism Living System – TLS) concept is underdeveloped, with limited relevant theoretical analysis to understand how it can support the transformations of tourism systems towards healthy communities and places. This paper aims to conceptualise TLSs and key stakeholder roles for enacting regenerative tourism using a living systems perspective. Knowledge synthesis and co-production were used to identify the conceptual framework and its applications. Knowledge synthesis was undertaken through a scoping review of the regenerative tourism literature and supplemented by a consultation exercise with leading regenerative tourism practitioners. Co-production of knowledge involved case study research to assess the conceptual framework's practical applications and revise it with regenerative tourism practitioners. The study revealed that regenerative tourism is informed by living systems' thinking. The authors identify five erse, interdependent and interconnected stakeholder roles from the case studies and scoping review. All stakeholder roles are vital for constituting tourism systems that contribute to the healthy evolution of social-ecological systems. Real-world case study applications of the TLS framework will guide tourism stakeholders who seek to adopt regenerative tourism approaches. The study contributes to developing new frontiers in tourism stakeholder roles and paradigms with implications for regenerative tourism futures. The TLS framework challenges industrial conceptions of tourism by proposing a shift in stakeholder roles from extraction to generating new life to survive, thrive and evolve.
A geochemical investigation into the resource potential of the Lawn Hill Platform, northern Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1071/AJ19118
Abstract: The Lawn Hill Platform (LHP) is a sedimentary province in north-eastern Northern Territory and north-western Queensland that hosts a significant Paleoproterozoic–Mesoproterozoic sequence, often referred to as 'the ‘Isa Superbasin’, and includes the overlying South Nicholson Group. Shale gas resources and base-metals mineralisation are known in north-west Queensland, but the larger basin is underexplored. The Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) 2016−2020 program aims to boost resource exploration in northern Australia. New precompetitive geochemical data obtained in this program includes source rock geochemistry, kerogen kinetics, bitumen reflectance, biomarker and δ13C n-alkanes for understanding the petroleum potential, organic geochemistry of source rocks and fluids, stratigraphic correlations and mineralogy to determine the brittleness of shales. All data and derived reports are accessible on the EFTF portal (www.eftf.ga.gov.au), providing a central location for informed decision making. The results in this study demonstrate fair to excellent source rocks in multiple supersequences that are brittle and favourable to hydraulic stimulation. A comparison to the greater McArthur Basin demonstrates, that although there are many similarities in bulk geochemistry, LHP mudstones are largely heterogeneous, reflecting local variations that may be inherited from variations in contributing biomass, microbial reworking, depositional environment, sediment input and paleoredox conditions.
Phylogenetic and biochemical evidence for sterol synthesis in the bacterium Gemmata obscuriglobus
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 05-12-2003
Abstract: Sterol biosynthesis is viewed primarily as a eukaryotic process, and the frequency of its occurrence in bacteria has long been a subject of controversy. Two enzymes, squalene monooxygenase and oxidosqualene cyclase, are the minimum necessary for initial biosynthesis of sterols from squalene. In this work, 19 protein gene sequences for eukaryotic squalene monooxygenase and 12 protein gene sequences for eukaryotic oxidosqualene cyclase were compared with all available complete and partial prokaryotic genomes. The only unequivocal matches for a sterol biosynthetic pathway were in the proteobacterium, Methylococcus capsulatus , in which sterol biosynthesis is known, and in the planctomycete, Gemmata obscuriglobus . The latter species contains the most abbreviated sterol pathway yet identified in any organism. Analysis shows that the major sterols in Gemmata are lanosterol and its uncommon isomer, parkeol. There are no subsequent modifications of these products. In bacteria, the sterol biosynthesis genes occupy a contiguous coding region and possibly comprise a single operon. Phylogenetic trees constructed for both enzymes show that the sterol pathway in bacteria and eukaryotes has a common ancestry. It is likely that this contiguous reading frame was exchanged between bacteria and early eukaryotes via lateral gene transfer or endosymbiotic events. The primitive sterols produced by Gemmata suggest that this genus could retain the most ancient remnants of the sterol biosynthetic pathway.
Regenerative tourism: a conceptual framework leveraging theory and practice
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-03-2022
Sedimentary Hydrocarbons, Biomarkers for Early Life
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2013
Nature-based solutions for changing urban landscapes
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2022
Postexercise Cold Water Immersion Benefits Are Not Greater than the Placebo Effect
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 11-2014
Reappraisal of hydrocarbon biomarkers in Archean rocks
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 27-04-2015
Abstract: The advent of oxygenic photosynthesis set the stage for the evolution of complex life on an oxygenated planet, but it is unknown when this transformative biochemistry emerged. The existing hydrocarbon biomarker record requires that oxygenic photosynthesis and eukaryotes emerged more than 300 million years before the Great Oxidation Event [∼2.4 billion years ago (Ga)]. We report that hopane and sterane concentrations measured in new ultraclean Archean drill cores from Australia are comparable to blank concentrations, yet their concentrations in the exteriors of conventionally collected cores of stratigraphic equivalence exceed blank concentrations by more than an order of magnitude due to surficial contamination. Consequently, previous hydrocarbon biomarker reports no longer provide valid evidence for the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis and eukaryotes by ∼2.7 Ga.
Reply to: Sources of C30 steroid biomarkers in Neoproterozoic–Cambrian rocks and oils
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-11-2019
Composition and syngeneity of molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion-year-old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2003
Oxygen minimum zones in the early Cambrian ocean
Publisher: European Association of Geochemistry
Date: 03-2018
Senses of injustices-in-place: nature’s voice through Melbourne’s environmental stewards
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-06-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S11625-023-01355-8
Abstract: Ecological injustices are systemic acts and processes of misrepresentation, misrecognition, maldistribution of impacts, and destruction of fundamental capabilities, to both human and nonhuman living beings. Unpacking these context-specific injustices requires in-depth explorations of people and their experiences, perceptions, types of knowledge, actions, and relations to, for, and with nonhuman beings and their capacities. To explore these injustices-in-place, we used embedded case studies within Metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, and examined the data with the self–others–environment sense of place framework to uncover people’s understandings of ecological (in)justices. The findings reveal a sense of disempowerment, conflated by unrecognized environmental work, a disconnect between different groups and levels of society, and the anonymity of the nonhuman others. Through a contested self–others–environment lens, place meanings in the study sites show different ways of valuing nature, which is conveyed in the types of actions, stewardship behaviors, and attachment to place. This analysis introduces a new concept of ‘ecological injustice’ that bridges the sense of place and justice by visibilizing the senses of anonymity, collectivity, reciprocal nurturing, and contestation that unfold across human–nonhuman interactions. We discuss strategies to prevent and restore ecological injustices, which include building capacity through knowledge exchange, improved funding and governance mechanisms, raising social–ecological awareness, and finding ways to populate our cities with environmental stewards that can help to deanonymize and make the needs of the nonhuman others visible.
Governance of and with nature-based solutions in cities
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 08-08-2023
Efficiency of extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the Paleoproterozoic Here’s Your Chance Pb/Zn/Ag ore deposit and implications for a study of Bitumen II
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2012
Abnormal Olfaction in Parkinson’s Disease Is Related to Faster Disease Progression
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1155/2015/976589
Abstract: Introduction . A possible association between olfactory dysfunction and Parkinson’s disease (PD) severity has been a topic of contention for the past 40 years. Conflicting reports may be partially explained by procedural differences in olfactory assessment and motor symptom evaluation. Methods . One hundred and sixty-six nondemented PD patients performed the Brief-Smell Identification Test and test scores below the estimated 20th percentile as a function of sex, age, and education (i.e., 80% specificity) were considered demographically abnormal. Patients underwent motor examination after 12 h without antiparkinsonian medication. Results . Eighty-two percent of PD patients had abnormal olfaction. Abnormal performance on the Brief-Smell Identification Test was associated with higher disease severity (i.e., Hoehn and Yahr, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-III, Freezing of Gait questionnaire, and levodopa equivalent dose), even when disease duration was taken into account. Conclusions . Abnormal olfaction in PD is associated with increased severity and faster disease progression.
Towards mainstreaming nature-based solutions for achieving biodiverse, resilient, and inclusive cities
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 08-08-2023
A framework for the extraction and interpretation of organic molecules in speleothem carbonate
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-02-2014
DOI: 10.1002/RCM.6843
Abstract: The organic content of speleothem calcite is a well-recognized component of their chemical composition. To date, the techniques for interpretation of this material include UV fluorescence, FTIR spectroscopy and biomarker analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). However, investigation of the minute concentrations of molecules in speleothems demands careful s ling and laboratory controls. To be certain extracted molecules were encapsulated at the time of speleothem growth and do not represent contamination, we submitted three pieces of speleothem calcite to a rigorous extraction procedure. Based on sequential digestion and analysis by GC/MS, we measured concentration profiles of in idual compounds with increasing distance from s le surfaces. Declining concentrations toward interior extracts identified cholesterol, phthalates, and n-alkanes as surface contaminants. In contrast, iodo organic compounds had homogeneous concentration profiles and were also significantly above laboratory background levels, consistent with an indigenous origin. However, further laboratory testing demonstrated that iodo organics were produced by the reaction of iodine derived from the speleothem with solvent additives and other impurities of the extraction procedure. Sitosterol and some fatty acids demonstrated distributions which were probably indigenous to the speleothem archive, thus recording environmental conditions commensurate with time of growth. We do not aim to provide an environmental interpretation of extracted molecules, but highlight the caution necessary before doing so. We ultimately establish a framework for differentiating between organic constituents that are introduced to the speleothems during storage, handling and as artifacts of extraction, and those encapsulated in situ at the time of growth.
The transition from a cyanobacterial to algal world and the emergence of animals
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd.
Date: 29-06-2018
DOI: 10.1042/ETLS20180039
Abstract: The Neoproterozoic, 1000–541 million years (Myr) ago, saw the transition from a largely bacterial world to the emergence of multicellular grazers, suspension feeders and predators. This article explores the hypothesis that the first appearance of large, multicellular heterotrophs was fueled by an elevated supply of nutrients and carbon from the bottom of the food chain to higher trophic levels. A refined record of molecular fossils of algal sterols reveals that the transition from dominantly bacterial to eukaryotic primary production in open marine habitat occurred between 659 and 645 Myr ago, in the hot interlude between two Snowball Earth glaciations. This bacterial–eukaryotic transition reveals three characteristics: it was rapid on geological timescales, it followed an extreme environmental catastrophe and it was permanent — hallmarks of an ecological hysteresis that shifted Earth's oceans between two self-stabilizing steady states. More than 50 million years of Snowball glaciations and their hot aftermath may have purged old-world bacterial phytoplankton, providing empty but nutrient-rich ecospace for recolonization by larger algae and transforming the base of the food web. Elevated average and maximum particle sizes at the base of the food chain may have provided more efficient energy and nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels, fueling an arms race toward larger grazers, predators and prey, and the development of increasingly complex feeding and defense strategies.
Space for mainstreaming? Learning from the implementation of urban forest strategies in metropolitan Melbourne
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-10-2023
Curation and Analysis of Global Sedimentary Geochemical Data to Inform Earth History
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Date: 05-2021
DOI: 10.1130/GSATG484A.1
Planning Ecologically Just Cities: A Framework to Assess Ecological Injustice Hotspots for Targeted Urban Design and Planning of Nature-Based Solutions
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2022
Metagenomic and lipid analyses reveal a diel cycle in a hypersaline microbial ecosystem
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-04-2015
A fossil sawfly of the genus Athalia (Hymenoptera : Tenthredinidae) from the Eocene-Oligocene boundary of Altkirch, France
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2005
The bromine and chlorine isotope composition of primary halite deposits and their significance for the secular isotope composition of seawater
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2019
Micro-ablation, a new technique to remove drilling fluids and other contaminants from fragmented and fissile rock material
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2013
Paleoecology of Neoproterozoic hypersaline environments: Biomarker evidence for haloarchaea, methanogens, and cyanobacteria
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/GBI.12245
Abstract: While numerous studies have examined modern hypersaline ecosystems, their equivalents in the geologic past, particularly in the Precambrian, are poorly understood. In this study, biomarkers from ~820 million year (Ma)-old evaporites from the Gillen Formation of the mid-Neoproterozoic Bitter Springs Group, central Australia, are investigated to elucidate the antiquity and paleoecology of halophiles. The sediments were composed of alternating laminae of dolomitized microbial mats and up to 90% anhydrite. Solvent extraction of these s les yielded thermally well-preserved hydrocarbon biomarkers. The regularly branched C
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