Organic carbon and bulk nitrogen isotope and abundance data and metal abundance data from the Mesoarchean VMS deposit and associated strata. Detailed information is given in Stueeken, E.E., Boocock, T.J., Robinson, A., Mikhail, S. and Johnson, B.W., 2021. Hydrothermal recycling of sedimentary ammonium into oceanic crust and the Archean ocean at 3.24 Ga. Geology, 49(7), pp.822-826.

Demonstration of hydrothermal ammonium mobilization in the Paleoproterozoic with possible implications for biological productivity. The data include organic carbon and nitrogen abundances and isotopic ratios, as well as metal abundances. Samples span from sedimentary rocks to altered igneous rocks, where lithologies are provided in the CN data file. The N-enrichment in the usually N-poor igneous rocks indicates transfer of ammonium from organic-rich sediments and can be used to estimate the ammonium concentration of the hydrothermal fluid at the time of deposition. More details are provided in Stüeken, E.E., Kirsimäe, K., Lepland, A. and Prave, A.R., 2023, Astrobiology, 23(2), pp. 195-212.

Stable isotope data of organic carbon, nitrogen and sulfur as well as trace elements are used to explore how proxies with differing residence times in seawater respond to changes in the basin’s connectivity to the open ocean. The results show that species with a short residence time, such as nitrate and rare earth elements, may be more sensitive to geologically brief fluctuations in oceanographic conditions than long-lived species like sulfate. Details about the methodology and sampling strategy can be found in Stu¨eken, E.E., Viehmann, S. and Hohl, S.V., 2023, ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 7(7), pp.1337-1349.

Nitrogen isotope and abundance data from brine seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Three data tables show (1) Electrical Conductivity data for three sediment cores, (2) carbon and nitrogen data from all sediment cores investigated in this study, and (3) ammonium concentrations and isotopic data from brine pool samples. The results show high enrichments of ammonium in the brines, indicating that the brines actively mobilize bioavailable nitrogen back into the water column. Isotopic data reveal evidence of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium at the brine-seawater interface. Brine seeps have long been implicated in the formation of sediment-hosted hydrothermal ore deposits. Our results support the notion that brines may have stimulated biological productivity, facilitating trapping of metals in brine seep environments.

Organic carbon and total nitrogen isotope data for black shales and U-Pb data for apatite solutes from the Burzyan and Yurmatau groups in the Urals, Russia. For detailed discussion see Stüeken, E.E., Kuznetsov, A.B., Vasilyeva, I.M., Krupenin, M.T. and Bekker, A., 2021. Transient deep-water oxygenation recorded by rare Mesoproterozoic phosphorites, South Urals. Precambrian Research, 360, p.106242.

Nitrogen isotopic composition of microbial biomass grown in the laboratory under N2-fixing conditions. Also included are meta-data that describe the experimental conditions. The conditions were chosen to mimic specific parameters of the early Earth, in particular variable CO2 and O2 supplies, to test if d15N data recorded in ancient biomass in the rock record is affected. Also included are data from the wider literature for comparison, as well as the results of statistical tests.

Organic carbon, total nitrogen, total reduced sulfur and carbonate-associated sulfur isotopes measured on decarbonated stromatolite samples from the Paranoa Group (1.1 Ga).

The dataset contains geochemical measurements which quantify the amount and source of carbon in organic matter of sediments from Lake Paringa, New Zealand. Measurements were made on a 6 m sediment core collected in 2015 from the lake bed using a Mackereth corer (PA6m1a). The core was correlated to master core PA1 which has a well-established age-depth model based on accelerator mass spectrometry measurements of the radiocarbon (14C) content of terrestrial macrofossils (Howarth et al., 2016). In addition, soil samples were collected using a soil auger from two elevation transects in westland, New Zealand in 2016 and 2017 (from Mt. Fox and Alex Knob). All sediment samples were freeze dried and ground to homogenise them prior to geochemical analyses. Organic carbon concentration (%) and the stable isotopic composition of organic carbon (δ13C) was measured (Frith et al., 2018) following the removal of carbonate minerals (0.25 M hydrochloric acid for 4 hours at approximately 70 °C) by combustion of sediment at 1,020 °C in a Costech Elemental Analyser coupled via a CONFLO III to a Thermo Scientific Delta V Advantage stable isotope mass spectrometer. Total nitrogen content (N, %) and its isotopic composition (δ15N) was measured by combustion of untreated samples in a Costech Elemental Analyser with a CARBOSORB trap to inhibit large CO2 peaks from affecting measurements. A subset of samples were selected for analysis of the radiocarbon activity (14C, reported as F14C) of bulk organic matter by accelerator mass spectrometry after graphitization. A subset of sediment samples from the lake core and soil samples were selected for the analysis of biomarker abundance and their hydrogen isotope composition. We focused on the extraction of n-alkanes from aliquots of lake sediment (~2 g) using established methods (Wang et al., 2020). These measurements are reported in the dataset as the abundance of n-alkanes (chain lengths C21 to C35) in ug/g of sediment (and sum of chain lengths and ratios - carbon preference index). Finally, the dataset includes outputs of organic matter provenance: modelled elevation and depth, as described in Wang et al., (2020). In the datafile, the sample elevation and depth are provided. The labels for data are as follows. For down core sediment samples from Lake Paringa, they are labelled with the core code (PA6m1), and the sampling interval in centimetres (PA6m1_x). Soil samples from an elevation transect from Mt Fox (MF-YY-a) are labelled with a distinct code for each site (YY) and sub-code for each soil depth (a). Soil samples from an elevation transect of Alex Knob (5.Z.z) are labelled based on sub-site (Z) and soil depth (z).

Dual stable isotope analysis comprising nitrogen-15 and oxygen-18 ratios for groundwater samples collected every 2-3 months over one hydrogeological year from the East Riding of Yorkshire. Isotopic ratios for nitrogen-15, oxygen-18 are both presented as raw and processed to NAIR and VSMOW, respectively. The data are in the form of a Microsoft Excel workbook containing Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer runs. The data were collected to understand key sources of nitrate contamination in Chalk groundwater and the dominant processes they undergo, and the extent of any attenuation. The Chalk catchments and the River Terrace Gravel catchment were compared, allowing conclusions to be drawn on the role of nitrate transformation, and the dominant location of transformations, to increase understanding of nitrate dynamics in agricultural systems. Groundwater samples were collected by the University of Leeds, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water and South East Water. Nitrate isolation and data interpretation carried out by Josephine McSherry, supervised by L. Jared West and Simon Bottrell. Mass spectrometry was carried out by Rob Newton and Bob Jamieson at the University of Leeds. No isotopic data are absent from the dataset, however oxygen contamination (resulting from the isolation method and since resolved) severely affected run O34b-O. Hydrochemical data relevant to the groundwater samples are not included as they are the property of the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water or South East Water.