Cherts and carbonates as geochemical proxies of paleoenvironmental conditions and Ocean Plate Stratigraphy

Cherts and carbonates represent outstanding and widespread members of Ocean Plate Stratigraphy (OPS) from the Archean to present. Their composition reflects different conditions during their deposition, which can be potentially linked to the contrasting and temporally changing processes that occurred on moving oceanic plates. Additionally, they also provide unique insights into the compositional variations in seawater chemistry and temperature as well as redox conditions of their depositional environment. We will pursue a multi-technique study combining tectonic, structural, and stratigraphic observations with elemental and isotopic (Hf–Nd–Mo–Si–C–O) data to reveal the origin and nature of chert and carbonate successions in ancient OPS sections and test whether they can be used as geochemical proxies for the variable processes occurring on oceanic plates. The project will also contribute to our understanding of paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Proterozoic–Cambrian with implications for global events preceding and synchronous with the Great Cambrian Explosion of life.