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Dating the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis using La-Ce geochronology

Nature volume 642, pages 99–104 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

There is ongoing debate as to when oxygenic photosynthesis evolved on Earth1,2. Geochemical data from ancient sediments indicate localized or ephemeral photosynthetic O2 production before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) approximately 2.5–2.3 billion years ago (Ga), and currently suggest Archaean origins, approximately 3 Ga or earlier3,4,5,6,7,8,9. However, sedimentary records of the early Earth often suffer from preservation issues, and poor control on the timing of oxidation leaves geochemical proxy data for the ancient presence of O2 open to critique10,11,12,13. Here, we report rare Earth element data from three different Archaean carbonate platforms preserved in greenstone belts of the northwest Superior Craton (Canada), which were deposited by the activity of marine photosynthetic bacteria 2.87 Ga, 2.85 Ga and 2.78 Ga. All three indicate O2 production before the GOE in the form of significant depletions in cerium (Ce), reflecting oxidative Ce removal from ancient seawater, as occurs today14. Using 138La-138Ce geochronology, we show that La/Ce fractionation, and thus Ce oxidation, occurred at the time of deposition, making these the oldest directly dated Ce anomalies. These results place the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis in the Mesoarchaean or earlier and bring an important new perspective on a long-standing debate regarding Earth’s biological and geochemical evolution.

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Fig. 1: Archaean carbonate platforms targeted by this study.
Fig. 2: REE data reveal important negative Ce anomalies in Archaean carbonates from the Superior Craton.
Fig. 3: La-Ce geochronology demonstrating Archaean-age Ce anomalies.

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Data availability

All data generated during this study are included in the Supplementary Tables accompanying this Article and are also available from the HAL repository (HAL ID: hal-05057809, https://hal.science/view/index/docid/5057809).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant no. 716515 to S.V.L. and grant no. 682778 to M.B.). We thank the owners and staff of the Bow Narrows and Woman River Camps for their hosting and logistical support, S. Kurucz, S. Timpa and R. Riding for their assistance in the field, N. Richet, Y. Lallaizon and J.-P. Oldra for their assistance with sample preparation, J.-A. Barrat, M.-L. Rouget, C. Liorzou, B. Gueguen and D. Auclair for their analytical support, the administrative staff of the Geo-Ocean Laboratory and Lakehead University for their organizational support, and J.-A. Barrat, M. Bau and K. Konhauser for stimulating discussions regarding this work.

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Author notes

  1. Dylan T. Wilmeth

    Present address: Geology Department, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, USA

  2. Brittany Ramsay

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Geo-Ocean, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, CNRS, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Plouzané, France

    Laureline A. Patry, Pierre Bonnand, Munira Afroz, Dylan T. Wilmeth, Philippe Nonnotte & Stefan V. Lalonde

  2. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, Aubière, France

    Maud Boyet

  3. Department of Geology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

    Brittany Ramsay & Philip W. Fralick

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Martin Homann

  5. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Paris, France

    Pierre Sansjofre

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Contributions

S.V.L. designed the research with contributions from P.B. and P.W.F. P.W.F., M.A., B.R., D.T.W., S.V.L., M.H., P.S. and L.A.P. performed the fieldwork and sample collection under the supervision of P.W.F. and S.V.L. M.A., D.T.W., B.R., L.A.P., M.H. and S.V.L. generated the REE datasets. L.A.P. prepared and conducted the La-Ce isotope analyses with the assistance of P.B., P.N. and M.B. L.A.P., P.B., S.V.L., M.B., M.A., D.T.W. and B.R. performed the data analysis. L.A.P., P.B. and S.V.L. wrote the manuscript with contributions from all co-authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Pierre Bonnand or Stefan V. Lalonde.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 La-Ce isotope data evaluated with respect to theoretical evolution from CHUR and as a function of Ce concentrations.

(a) 138La-138Ce isotope systematics of the combined dataset from the three studied Archean carbonate platforms, superimposed on the theoretical 138La-138Ce evolution trajectories drawn for 0.1 Ga, 1 Ga, 2 Ga, and 3 Ga from a CHUR-like initial precursor. For clarity, data points are enlarged relative to the measured analytical uncertainties. (b) Plots of measured Ce isotope compositions and (c) initial Ce isotope composition versus 1/Ce concentrations (in ppm) reveal no systematic correlations that might indicate that the reported isochrons are the result of disturbance or mixing of different Ce sources.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Probability distributions of La-Ce closure ages.

La-Ce closure age probabilities for (a) the isochron fits as reported in the main text, (b) the same isochron fits for which ages are calculated using the upper 2 s uncertainty limits of the 138La decay constants (see Methods), (c) isochron fits obtained if a student t-test expansion is applied to the analytical uncertainty determined in our study for the 138La/138Ce ratios, and (d) isochron fits for the case where 2 s uncertainties on the 138La/138Ce ratios are expanded artificially from 3.85% to 10% (see Supplementary Information). For (d), the joint probability of all three La-Ce closure ages versus time (dotted line) is provided on the second y-axis, demonstrating that even if analytical uncertainties were underestimated in this study, the joint probability that all three La-Ce isochrons may represent oxidation that occurred during the GOE is effectively excluded. The minimum depositional ages for each site as determined by zircon U-Pb geochronology are presented as vertical bars, with the width of each bar representing the 2 s uncertainty; in the case of Steep Rock, the uncertainty on the U-Pb minimum depositional age has been artificially expanded by a factor of 4 for visibility. See Supplementary Information for additional details.

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Supplementary Tables 1–5.

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Patry, L.A., Bonnand, P., Boyet, M. et al. Dating the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis using La-Ce geochronology. Nature 642, 99–104 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09009-8

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