The Middle Proterozoic Record of Tectonic, Biogeochemical, and Eukaryotic Evolution

地球的中年，大约在18亿到8亿年前，见证了早期真核生物的多样化和环境的逐渐氧化，为动物的起源奠定了基础。这段10亿年的时间间隔被两个超级大陆的形成所包围，这两个超级大陆的组装和解体可能深刻地影响了海洋化学和沉积物矿藏的空间和时间分布。阐明中元古代构造、生物地球化学和真核生物演化之间的模式和联系是一项重大的科学挑战，加拿大北部广泛保存完好的中元古代沉积记录使这一挑战成为可能。

Earth’s middle age, ca. 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago, witnessed the diversification of early eukaryotic and the gradual oxygenation of the environment that set the stage for the origin of animals. This billion-year interval was bracketed by the formation of two supercontinents whose assembly and break-up likely profoundly influenced ocean chemistry and the spatial and temporal distribution of sediment-hosted mineral deposits. Elucidating the patterns and linkages between tectonic, biogeochemical, and eukaryotic evolution during the middle Proterozoic Era is a grand scientific challenge that is made possible by the extensive and well-preserved middle Proterozoic sedimentary record in northern Canada.