Fennoscandia Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project

The main scientific goal is to create a self-consistent model explaining the genesis and timing of the abrupt establishment of the modern Earth system through early Palaeoproterozoic time. This will be achieved utilising a multidisciplinary, international research group to study drillcore obtained from Palaeoprotrozoic volcano-sedimentary successions in Fennoscandia. The drilling program will address several objectives:

1) the Palaeoproterozoic global excursion(s) of δ13Ccarb (nature, discontinuity, duration and significance, modelling);
2) the proposed upper mantle oxidising event (geochemical imprints, impact on oxidation state of the hydrosphere-atmosphere system);
3) the rise in atmospheric oxygen (causes, time-relationship with the Lomagundi-Jatulian and the upper mantle oxidising event);
4) the marine sulphate reservoir (timing, time-relationship with mass-independent fractionation of sulphur isotopes);
5) the worldwide deposition of Corg-rich sediments, and the oldest significant accumulation of petroleum (nature, significance, primary biomass, biomarkers, cause-and-effect relationship with the rise in atmospheric oxygen);
6) emergence of oxic seawaters and 'modern-style' recycling of organic matter (timing, causes, associated diagenetic products; impact on isotopic composition and sedimentological expression of diagentically formed carbonates and sulphides);
7) possible changes in sulphur, phosphorous and nitrogen cycles (fixation, recycling, biological and diagenetic products).

Applied objectives of the research, with potential significant economic implications are to obtain new reliable data for:

1) the further search for fullerenes (artificially produced, expensive superconductor), and
2) the petroleum industry on oil migration distance, and chemical and isotopic transformation between in situ, migrated and spilled petroleum that occurred as early as 2000 Ma ago.

(Figure ©:V.A.Melezhik - Geological map of the eastern Fennoscandian Shield with emphasis on the Palaeoproterozoic rocks (modified from Koistinen et al. 2001). )