Triggers of Permo-Triassic boundary mass extinction in South China: The Siberian Traps or Paleo-Tethys ignimbrite flare-up?

Enhanced regional subduction-related volcanism in the South China craton concurrent with Siberian Traps large igneous province magmatism was a likely contributor to major biotic and environmental stresses associated with the Permian-Triassic boundary (ca. 252 Ma) mass extinction. However, the timing, intensity, and duration of this regional volcanic activity remain uncertain. We analyzed mercury (Hg) concentrations in three widely separated marine sections in the South China craton (Shangsi, Ganxi, and Chaohu) as well as Hg isotopic compositions in one section (Shangsi) from the Upper Permian (Changhsingian) through the lowermost Triassic (Induan) in order to track volcanic inputs. Four mercury enrichment (ME) intervals, dating to the lowermost Changhsingian (ME1), mid–Clarkina changxingensis zone (ME2), upper C. changxingensis to lower C. yini zones (ME3), and latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) interval (ME4), were recognized on the basis of elevated Hg/total organic carbon ratios. These records provide evidence of strong volcanism in the Tethyan region starting ~2 m.y. before the LPME, whereas only the ME4 event is recorded in extra-Tethyan sections. Mercury isotopes support the inference that pre-LPME Hg peaks were related to regional subduction-related volcanism, and that Hg emissions at the LPME were the result of Siberian Traps large igneous province intrusions into organic-rich sediments. This study demonstrates the feasibility of distinguishing flood-basalt from subduction-related volcanic inputs on the basis of marine sedimentary Hg records.

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Pattern of Marine Mass Extinction Near the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China

Science ◽

10.1126/science.289.5478.432 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 289 (5478) ◽

pp. 432-436 ◽

Cited By ~ 429

Author(s):

Y. G. Jin

Keyword(s):

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary

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Rapid enhancement of chemical weathering recorded by extremely light seawater lithium isotopes at the Permian–Triassic boundary

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1711862115 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 (15) ◽

pp. 3782-3787 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

He Sun ◽

Yilin Xiao ◽

Yongjun Gao ◽

Guijie Zhang ◽

John F. Casey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Chemical Weathering ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Isotopic Signatures ◽

Siberian Traps ◽

Li Isotope ◽

Continental Weathering ◽

Excessive Nutrients ◽

Permian Mass Extinction ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary

Lithium (Li) isotope analyses of sedimentary rocks from the Meishan section in South China reveal extremely light seawater Li isotopic signatures at the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB), which coincide with the most severe mass extinction in the history of animal life. Using a dynamic seawater lithium box model, we show that the light seawater Li isotopic signatures can be best explained by a significant influx of riverine [Li] with light δ7Li to the ocean realm. The seawater Li isotope excursion started ≥300 Ky before and persisted up to the main extinction event, which is consistent with the eruption time of the Siberian Traps. The eruption of the Siberian Traps exposed an enormous amount of fresh basalt and triggered CO2 release, rapid global warming, and acid rains, which in turn led to a rapid enhancement of continental weathering. The enhanced continental weathering delivered excessive nutrients to the oceans that could lead to marine eutrophication, anoxia, acidification, and ecological perturbation, ultimately resulting in the end-Permian mass extinction.

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Sedimentary factories and ecosystem change across the Permian-Triassic Critical Interval (P-TrCI) – insights from the Xiakou area (South China)

10.1101/2020.08.10.244210 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yu Pei ◽

Jan-Peter Duda ◽

Joachim Reitner

Keyword(s):

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Oxygen Depletion ◽

Ecosystem Change ◽

Critical Interval ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Carbonate Production ◽

Carbonate Formation ◽

Carbonate Factory ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary

AbstractThe Permian-Triassic mass extinction included a potentially catastrophic decline of biodiversity, but ecosystem change across this event remains poorly characterized. Here we reconstruct sedimentary factories and ecosystem change across the Permian-Triassic Critical Interval (P-TrCI) in the Xiakou area (South China). Six microfacies (MF) were classified. The succession begins with a eukaryote-controlled carbonate factory (MF-1) that passes upward into an organomineralization-dominated carbonate factory (MF-2–3). Organic-rich marls atop these units reflect carbonate factory collapse (MF-4). Organomineralization-driven carbonate formation restarts prior to the Permian-Triassic boundary (MF-5) and subsequently develops into a mixed carbonate factory where organomineralization and biomineralization are almost equally important (MF-6). MF-1 reflects oxygenated shallow water environments. In contrast, MF-2–6 were all deposited in somewhat deeper environments, some of which episodically exhibited elevated salinities, oxygen depletion, and, possibly, euxinic conditions. Our results demonstrate that distinct changes in carbonate production styles, biodiversity, and environmental conditions are not synchronous at Xiakou. Furthermore, the Xiakou record is strikingly different to that of other localities, even from the same area (e.g., the Global Stratotype Section and Point section at Meishan). Together, these findings highlight the enormous complexity of the P-TrCI and calls simplified views of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction into question.

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Permian–Triassic land-plant diversity in South China: Was there a mass extinction at the Permian/Triassic boundary?

Paleobiology ◽

10.1666/09029.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 157-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Conghui Xiong ◽

Qi Wang

Keyword(s):

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Middle Triassic ◽

Land Plant ◽

Land Plants ◽

Late Triassic ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary ◽

Diversity Dynamics ◽

Early Middle Triassic

Diversity dynamics of the Permian–Triassic land plants in South China are studied by analyzing paleobotanical data. Our results indicate that the total diversity of land-plant megafossil genera and species across the Permian/Triassic boundary (PTB) of South China underwent a progressive decline from the early Late Permian (Wuchiapingian) to the Early-Middle Triassic. In contrast, the diversity of land-plant microfossil genera exhibited only a small fluctuation across the PTB of South China, showing an increase at the PTB. Overall, land plants across the PTB of South China show a greater stability in diversity dynamics than marine faunas. The highest extinction rate (90.91%) and the lowest origination rate (18.18%) of land-plant megafossil genera occurred at the early Early Triassic (Induan), but the temporal duration of the higher genus extinction rates (>60%) in land plants was about 23.4 Myr, from the Wuchiapingian to the early Middle Triassic (Anisian), which is longer than that of the coeval marine faunas (3–11 Myr). Moreover, the change of genus turnover rates in land-plant megafossils steadily fluctuated from the late Early Permian to the Late Triassic. More stable diversity and turnover rate as well as longer extinction duration suggest that land plants near the PTB of South China may have been involved in a gradual floral reorganization and evolutionary replacement rather than a mass extinction like those in the coeval marine faunas.

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Volcanism at the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China and Its Effects on Mass Extinction

Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition ◽

10.1111/j.1755-6724.1989.mp2004007.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 417-431

Author(s):

Yin Hongfu ◽

Huang Siji ◽

Zhang Kexin ◽

Yang Fengqing ◽

Ding Meihua ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary

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Siberian Trap volcanism, global warming and the Permian-Triassic mass extinction: New insights from Armenian Permian-Triassic sections

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35108.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 132 (1-2) ◽

pp. 427-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

M.M. Joachimski ◽

A.S. Alekseev ◽

A. Grigoryan ◽

Yu.A. Gatovsky

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Oxygen Isotopes ◽

Climate Warming ◽

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Time Interval ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Volcanic Event ◽

Siberian Trap

Abstract Permian-Triassic boundary sections from Armenia were studied for carbon isotopes of carbonates as well as oxygen isotopes of conodont apatite in order to constrain the global significance of earlier reported variations in the isotope proxies and elaborate the temporal relationship between carbon cycle changes, global warming and Siberian Trap volcanism. Carbon isotope records of the Chanakhchi and Vedi II sections show a 3–5‰ negative excursion that start in the Clarkina nodosa (C. yini) conodont Zone (latest Permian) with minimum values recorded in Hindeodus parvus to Isarcicella isarcica conodont zones (earliest Triassic). Sea surface temperatures (SST) reconstructed from oxygen isotopes of conodont apatite increase by 8–10 °C over an extrapolated time interval of ∼39 ka with the onset of global warming occurring in the C. iranica (C. meishanensis) Zone of the latest Permian. Climate warming documented in the Armenian sections is comparable to published time-equivalent shifts in SST in Iran and South China suggesting that this temperature change represents a true global signature. By correlating the Armenian and Iranian section with the radiometrically well-dated Meishan GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) section (South China), the negative shift in δ13C is estimated to have occurred 12–128 ka prior to the onset of global warming. This temporal offset is unexpected given the synchrony in changes in atmospheric CO2 and global temperature as seen in Pleistocene ice core records. The negative δ13C excursion is explained by the addition of emission of isotopically light CO2 and CH4 from thermogenic heating of organic carbon-rich sediments by Siberian Trap sill intrusions. However, the observed time lag in the δ13C and δ18O shifts questions the generally assumed cause-effect relationship between emission of thermogenically produced greenhouse gases and global warming. The onset of temperature rise coincides with a significant enrichment in Hg/TOC (total organic carbon) ratios arguing for a major volcanic event at the base of the extinction interval. Whether global warming was a major factor for the Late Permian mass extinction depends on the duration of the extinction interval. Warming only starts at the base of the extinction interval, but with the extinction encompassing a time interval of 60 ± 48 ka, global climate warming in conjunction with temperature-related stressors as hypoxia and reduced nutrient availability may have been one of the major triggers of the most devastating biotic crisis in Earth history.

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Triassic Foraminifera from the Great Bank of Guizhou, Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: taxonomic account, biostratigraphy, and implications for recovery from end-Permian mass extinction

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/jpa.2021.10 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-53

Author(s):

Demir Altıner ◽

Jonathan L. Payne ◽

Daniel J. Lehrmann ◽

Sevinç Özkan-Altıner ◽

Brian M. Kelley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South China ◽

Mass Extinction ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Carbonate Platform ◽

Ecological Niches ◽

Ocean Bottom ◽

Triassic Boundary ◽

Permian Mass Extinction ◽

Benthic Ecosystems ◽

Permian Triassic Boundary

Abstract Foraminifera are important components of tropical marine benthic ecosystems and their recovery pattern from the end-Permian mass extinction can yield insights into the Mesozoic history of this group. Here we report the calcareous and agglutinated foraminifera recovered from five measured stratigraphic sections on the Great Bank of Guizhou, an uppermost Permian to Upper Triassic isolated carbonate platform in the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China. The material contains >100 Triassic species, including three that are newly described (Arenovidalina weii n. sp., Meandrospira? enosi n. sp., and Spinoendotebanella lehrmanni n. gen., n. sp.), ranging from Griesbachian (Induan) to Cordevolian (Carnian) age. The species belong to the classes Miliolata, Textulariata, Fusulinata, Nodosariata, and to an unknown class housing all aragonitic forms of the orders Involutinida and Robertinida. Based on previously established conodont zones and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, the Griesbachian (early Induan) through Illyrian (late Anisian) interval has been subdivided into 12 foraminiferal zones and two unnamed intervals devoid of foraminifera. Following the extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary, habitable ecological niches of Griesbachian age were invaded by disaster taxa that subsequently became extinct during the Dienerian (late Induan) and left no younger descendants. The disaster taxa were replaced by Lazarus taxa with Permian origins, which were then decimated by the Smithian-Spathian (mid-Olenekian) boundary crisis. The tempo of recovery appears to have been modulated by environmental changes during the Griesbachian through Smithian that involved both climate change and expansion of anoxic ocean bottom waters. Uninterrupted and lasting recovery of benthic foraminifera did not begin until the Spathian. UUID: http://zoobank.org/2a6e9061-b163-402a-9098-8765a80576b3

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