Mercury fluxes record regional volcanism in the South China craton prior to the end-Permian mass extinction

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Shen ◽  
Jiubin Chen ◽  
Thomas J. Algeo ◽  
Qinglai Feng ◽  
Jianxin Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Upper Permian ◽  
The South ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Siberian Traps ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
South China Craton ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

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.

scholarly journals The Capitanian (Guadalupian, Middle Permian) mass extinction in NW Pangea (Borup Fiord, Arctic Canada): A global crisis driven by volcanism and anoxia

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 931-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P.G. Bond ◽  
Paul B. Wignall ◽  
Stephen E. Grasby
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Middle Permian ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Arctic Canada ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Emeishan Large Igneous Province ◽  
Geochemical Study ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Sverdrup Basin ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

Abstract Until recently, the biotic crisis that occurred within the Capitanian Stage (Middle Permian, ca. 262 Ma) was known only from equatorial (Tethyan) latitudes, and its global extent was poorly resolved. The discovery of a Boreal Capitanian crisis in Spitsbergen, with losses of similar magnitude to those in low latitudes, indicated that the event was geographically widespread, but further non-Tethyan records are needed to confirm this as a true mass extinction. The cause of this crisis is similarly controversial: While the temporal coincidence of the extinction and the onset of volcanism in the Emeishan large igneous province in China provides a clear link between those phenomena, the proximal kill mechanism is unclear. Here, we present an integrated fossil, pyrite framboid, and geochemical study of the Middle to Late Permian section of the Sverdrup Basin at Borup Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. As in Spitsbergen, the Capitanian extinction is recorded by brachiopods in a chert/limestone succession 30–40 m below the Permian-Triassic boundary. The extinction level shows elevated concentrations of redox-sensitive trace metals (Mo, V, U, Mn), and contemporary pyrite framboid populations are dominated by small individuals, suggestive of a causal role for anoxia in the wider Boreal crisis. Mercury concentrations—a proxy for volcanism—are generally low throughout the succession but are elevated at the extinction level, and this spike withstands normalization to total organic carbon, total sulfur, and aluminum. We suggest this is the smoking gun of eruptions in the distant Emeishan large igneous province, which drove high-latitude anoxia via global warming. Although the global Capitanian extinction might have had different regional mechanisms, like the more famous extinction at the end of the Permian, each had its roots in large igneous province volcanism.

scholarly journals Nickel isotopes link Siberian Traps aerosol particles to the end-Permian mass extinction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Menghan Li ◽  
Stephen E. Grasby ◽  
Shui-Jiong Wang ◽  
Xiaolin Zhang ◽  
Laura E. Wasylenki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Siberian Traps ◽  
The Past ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Nickel Isotopes ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

AbstractThe end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, and the Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is widely hypothesized to have been the primary trigger for the environmental catastrophe. The killing mechanisms depend critically on the nature of volatiles ejected during STLIP eruptions, initiating about 300 kyr before the extinction event, because the atmosphere is the primary interface between magmatism and extinction. Here we report Ni isotopes for Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks from Arctic Canada. The δ60Ni data range from −1.09‰ to 0.35‰, and exhibit the lightest δ60Ni compositions ever reported for sedimentary rocks. Our results provide strong evidence for global dispersion and loading of Ni-rich aerosol particles into the Panthalassic Ocean. Our data demonstrate that environmental degradation had begun well before the extinction event and provide a link between global dispersion of Ni-rich aerosols, ocean chemistry changes, and the EPME.

Survival brachiopod faunas of the end-Permian mass extinction from the southern Alps (Italy) and South China

2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHONG-QIANG CHEN ◽  
KUNIO KAIHO ◽  
ANNETTE D. GEORGE ◽  
JINNAN TONG
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Upper Permian ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Permian Extinction ◽  
Generic Affinity ◽  
Tethys Ocean ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

Eight brachiopod species in seven genera are described from the Permian–Triassic boundary beds of South China and northern Italy. The brachiopods from northern Italy are described for the first time and include two new species: Orbicoelia dolomitensis Chen and Spirigerella? teseroi Chen. The Permian affinity of these brachiopods and their stratigraphical position above the extinction horizon demonstrate that they are survivors from the end-Permian mass extinction. The surviving brachiopods from South China, which was located at the eastern margin of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, are considerably abundant and diverse and are dominated by geographically widespread generalist elements adapted to a wide variety of environments. They were mostly limited to the Upper Permian to lowest Griesbachian. In contrast, the survivors in northern Italy, which was situated at the western margin of the Palaeo-Tethys, comprise elements ranging from the Carboniferous to Permian or widespread Tethyan genera. These survivors did not occur in the pre-extinction western Tethyan oceans but migrated into this region after the end-Permian extinction event. Disaster taxon Lingula proliferated slightly earlier in western Tethyan oceans than in eastern Tethyan regions following the event. Survival brachiopods from both regions appear to have a generic affinity, although they do not share any species. Both South Chinese and Italian survival faunas support the view that the survival interval is the duration when survivors are dominated by geographically widespread generalist organisms adapted to a wide variety of ecological conditions.

Mercury evidence of intense volcanic effects on land during the Permian-Triassic transition

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1117-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Shen ◽  
Jianxin Yu ◽  
Jiubin Chen ◽  
Thomas J. Algeo ◽  
Guozhen Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Mass Independent Fractionation ◽  
Carbon Isotope Excursion ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
South China Craton ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary ◽  
First Time ◽  
Global Influence

Abstract The Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) was the likely trigger for the ca. 252 Ma latest Permian mass extinction (LPME), but direct evidence for global volcanic effects on land remains rare. Here, we used mercury (Hg) enrichments, a proxy for ancient volcanic activity, to assess volcanic inputs to two terrestrial Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) sections that were separated by thousands of kilometers and represent different latitudinal zones—the peri-equatorial Lubei section (South China craton) and the high-latitude (40–60°N) Dalongkou section (Junggar terrane). Both sections exhibit strong Hg enrichment within a discrete (≤40 m) stratigraphic window representing the LPME. At Lubei, this interval is also characterized by negative mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of odd Hg isotopes, consistent with massive volcanogenic and/or terrestrial Hg inputs. These findings are significant in documenting Hg spikes and negative MIF excursions near the PTB in terrestrial sections for the first time, providing evidence of the global influence of the STLIP, as well as in demonstrating at high stratigraphic resolution its synchronicity with the PTB negative carbon-isotope excursion (CIE), supporting a common global cause for these anomalies.

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Mercury fluxes record regional volcanism in the South China craton prior to the end-Permian mass extinction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Shen ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Analytical Methods ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
Mercury Fluxes ◽  
South China Craton ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction

Descriptions of studied sections, analytical methods, mercury as volcanic proxy, host of Hg in sediments, and geological time scale and volcanic ash distributions.<br>

scholarly journals Archosauriform footprints in the Lower Triassic of Western Alps and their role in understanding the effects of the Permian-Triassic hyperthermal

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10522
Author(s):  
Fabio Massimo Petti ◽  
Heinz Furrer ◽  
Enrico Collo ◽  
Edoardo Martinetto ◽  
Massimo Bernardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Lower Triassic ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Habitable Zones ◽  
Single Well ◽  
Permian Mass Extinction ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

The most accepted killing model for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) postulates that massive volcanic eruption (i.e., the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province) led to geologically rapid global warming, acid rain and ocean anoxia. On land, habitable zones were drastically reduced, due to the combined effects of heating, drought and acid rains. This hyperthermal had severe effects also on the paleobiogeography of several groups of organisms. Among those, the tetrapods, whose geographical distribution across the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the subject of controversy in a number of recent papers. We here describe and interpret a new Early Triassic (?Olenekian) archosauriform track assemblage from the Gardetta Plateau (Briançonnais, Western Alps, Italy) which, at the Permian-Triassic boundary, was placed at about 11° North. The tracks, both arranged in trackways and documented by single, well-preserved imprints, are assigned to Isochirotherium gardettensis ichnosp. nov., and are here interpreted as produced by a non-archosaurian archosauriform (erytrosuchid?) trackmaker. This new discovery provides further evidence for the presence of archosauriformes at low latitudes during the Early Triassic epoch, supporting a model in which the PTME did not completely vacate low-latitude lands from tetrapods that therefore would have been able to cope with the extreme hot temperatures of Pangaea mainland.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (15) ◽  
pp. 3782-3787 ◽  
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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