Primary productivity recovery and shallow-water oxygenation during the Sturtian deglaciation in South China

The Cryogenian Period (ca. 720–635 Ma) marks a key node in Earth's history, characterized by two global glaciations when the paleo-tropical regions were covered by glaciers, namely the Sturtian and Marinoan Snowball Earth events. Within the Cryogenian, the evolution of primary producers persisted, evidenced by the worldwide discovery of diverse microfossils and the proliferation of algae in the interglacial oceans. The Cryogenian radiation of algae facilitated the emergence and evolution of early eumetazoan animals. However, the paleoredox reconstruction of the interglacial Cryogenian presents more challenges. The open oceans were predominantly and permanently ferruginous throughout the Cryogenian Period, and persistently euxinic conditions developed in restricted basins, such as the Nanhua Basin. Some of the studies suggested a possible fully‑oxygenated interval in the aftermath of the Sturtian glaciation. Therefore, a knowledge gap lies between the biological prosperity and severe habitability in the interglacial oceans. In order to fill this gap, we report a newly discovered interglacial deposition – the Datangpo Formation – of shallow water depth from the Guitouwan section, Shennongjia area, South China. A combination of iron speciation, total organic matter (TOC), and pyrite sulfur isotopes (δ³⁴S_py) analyses are conducted, along with numerical simulations, for reconstructions of paleoredox conditions and paleoproductivity level. Additionally, we collected Fe chemistry, TOC, and pyrite sulfur data from multiple successions of the Datangpo Formation in South China to reconstruct the paleoredox landscape. The spatial TOC comparison suggests that the interglacial interval is marked by a TOC increase at the base, and the Guitouwan succession represents the early deposition during the wake of Sturtian deglaciation. Fe speciation suggests locally (dys)oxic-ferruginous condition in the Shennongjia area, while the δ³⁴S_py systematics indicate a transition from ferruginous to euxinic condition and a sharp increase in primary productivity during the Sturtian deglaciation. With respect to the high δ³⁴S_py values, the observed discrepancy suggests that the iron proxy might be inapplicable during fast environmental changes, especially during the deglaciation episodes. The comparison of Fe chemistry and pyrite sulfur isotopes between different water-depth settings informs a redox-stratified ocean in the Nanhua Basin. The newly discovered interglacial deposition fills the blank in understanding the shallow-water oxygenation in the Sturtian glacial aftermath, recording the transition from (dys)oxic-ferruginous to ferruginous-euxinic and from low to high productivity levels. These findings shed new light on the interpretation of Fe chemistry and δ³⁴S_py in the geological past, and provide a novel perspective on investigating productivity levels.