A 320 MA Multi-Sphere Record of Biodiversity and Geodynamics Through Fungal Biomarkers

DOI

This study presents a high-resolution geochemical reconstruction of terrestrial biomarkers spanning the 320 Ma Carboniferous to 2026 AD Anthropocene. Utilizing a unified 800-sample matrix, I evaluated the evolutionary trajectory of wood-degrading fungal lineages—specifically the Paleancistrus-Phanerochaete transition—through the lens of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecular proxies. I introduce a multidimensional analytical framework that integrates the Combined PAH Flux Index (CPFI) and the Higher Plant Parameter (HPP) with planetary-scale drivers, including Inner Core Compositional Rayleigh Numbers (Rac), the Thermal Maturity Index (Im), and the Mathieu stability characteristic (a).Our results identify a primary metabolic pulse at 318 Ma, where a surge in the CPFI correlates with a high-energy state characterized by a CPFI of 0.78 and a calculated reflectance (Rc) of 0.87. Time-series analysis reveals that modern geochemical signatures have bypassed Pleistocene stable baselines, exhibiting a rapid regression to Paleozoic thermal maturity levels (Rc ≈ 0.86+). However, 3D surface modeling of Time, CPFI/HPP ratios, and Phylogenetic Diversity Scores (PDS) uncovers a critical high-frequency lag in modern biological complexity compared to the 318 Ma baseline. These findings suggest that contemporary terrestrial metabolism is currently over-revving in response to orbital excitation (q) and intensified geodynamic conductivity, marking a fundamental departure from planetary equilibrium.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993935
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.5066/P1FXE9GK
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mycres.2007.03.004
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107326040
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1016/0264-8172(88)90003-7
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1080/14786441608635602
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau2422
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.06.007
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.993935
Provenance
Creator Armstorff, Genevieve ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2026
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; Data access is restricted (moratorium, sensitive data, license constraints); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess false
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 18400 data points
Discipline Earth System Research