Abstract
Phanerozoic large igneous provinces (LIPs) have a significant influence on global climate changes and mass extinction events (MEEs). Most of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Points in the Phanerozoic international chronostratigraphic scale are coeval with LIPs and are marked in the sedimentary record by global-scale MEEs and/or by ocean anoxic events represented by black shales. However, due to limited knowledge on atmospheric oxygen concentrations, ocean redox conditions, and early fossils during the Meso-Neoproterozoic Eras prior to the Ediacaran period, little is known on the climate and environmental effects of LIPs during this period of a billion years, the so-called “Boring Billion” (1.8–0.8 Ga). Here we provide geochronological and geological evidence for a temporal and genetic link between the intense ca. 1380 Ma LIP activity (found on many crustal blocks) and coeval black shales in the Nuna (Columbia) supercontinent. We further propose that the ca. 1380 Ma LIPs and black shales widely distributed in the Nuna supercontinent represent a global-scale geological event and provide a robust natural marker for the Calymmian-Ectasian boundary at 1383 Ma. Further investigation of the temporal and genetic link between the LIPs and black shales at other times can contribute to understanding the variations in atmospheric oxygen concentrations and ocean redox conditions during the Boring Billion, during which virtually nothing of Earth’s climate and MEEs is known.
Highlights
Large igneous provinces (LIPs) represent large-volume, short-duration mafic igneous events of intraplate character throughout Earth’s history (e.g., Coffin and Eldholm, 1994; Bryan and Ernst, 2008)
In the Phanerozoic Eon, LIPs can be correlated with major ocean anoxic events (OAEs) and mass extinction events (MEEs), and these correlative geological events have been used as natural markers of Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Points (GSSPs) in the sedimentary record (Percival et al, 2015)
Subdivisions of the Phanerozoic and the base of the Ediacaran in the international chronostratigraphic scale are each defined by a basal GSSP, whereas the other Precambrian periods are formally subdivided by assigned absolute age due to lack of constraints from global geologic events (Ogg et al, 2016)
Summary
Large igneous provinces (LIPs) represent large-volume, short-duration (or pulsed) mafic igneous events of intraplate character throughout Earth’s history (e.g., Coffin and Eldholm, 1994; Bryan and Ernst, 2008). They can have a significant global climatic effect and are usually linked to global environmental catastrophes and mass extinction events (MEEs) (e.g., Courtillot, 1999; Wignall, 2001). The Xiamaling Formation (XF) in the Yanliao rift zone in the northern North China craton (NCC) consists mainly of shale and mudstone and was deposited in a tectonically quiet marine basin. The deposition ages of these black shales are still poorly constrained
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