Evidence for a prolonged Permian\u2013Triassic extinction interval from global marine mercury records

Jun Shen,Jiubin Chen,Brennan O’Connell,Jianxin Yu,Noah J Planavsky,Lian Zhou,Qinglai Feng,Thomas J Algeo,Shengliu Yuan

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09620-0

Abstract

The latest Permian mass extinction, the most devastating biocrisis of the Phanerozoic, has been widely attributed to eruptions of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province, although evidence of a direct link has been scant to date. Here, we measure mercury (Hg), assumed to reflect shifts in volcanic activity, across the Permian-Triassic boundary in ten marine sections across the Northern Hemisphere. Hg concentration peaks close to the Permian-Triassic boundary suggest coupling of biotic extinction and increased volcanic activity. Additionally, Hg isotopic data for a subset of these sections provide evidence for largely atmospheric rather than terrestrial Hg sources, further linking Hg enrichment to increased volcanic activity. Hg peaks in shallow-water sections were nearly synchronous with the end-Permian extinction horizon, while those in deep-water sections occurred tens of thousands of years before the main extinction, possibly supporting a globally diachronous biotic turnover and protracted mass extinction event.

Highlights

The latest Permian mass extinction, the most devastating biocrisis of the Phanerozoic, has been widely attributed to eruptions of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province, evidence of a direct link has been scant to date
Hg concentration spikes synchronous with the latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) have been reported from Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) sections at Festningen, Buchanan Lake, Shangsi, Daxiakou, and Meishan D7,8,10,11 (Fig. 1)
The 10 PTB sections chosen for this study have a wide geographic distribution (Fig. 1) and represent a range of depositional water depths, including shallow, intermediate, and deep water settings (see Shen et al.[19]; Shallower a Bálvány (BN) St F Z

Summary

Introduction

The latest Permian mass extinction, the most devastating biocrisis of the Phanerozoic, has been widely attributed to eruptions of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province, evidence of a direct link has been scant to date. The main cause of the latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) is generally thought to be linked to severe environmental perturbations caused by eruptions of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (LIP)[4,5]. Hg concentration spikes synchronous with the LPME have been reported from PTB sections at Festningen, Buchanan Lake, Shangsi, Daxiakou, and Meishan D7,8,10,11 (Fig. 1) These data suggest large inputs of volcanic Hg into the regions of northern Laurentia and the South China Craton[8,11], though they are not sufficient to establish the timing of volcanic fluxes relative to the extinction horizon on a global scale. We measured Hg concentrations in 10 marine PTB sections and analyzed Hg isotopes in three of these sections (from different areas and depositional settings) to investigate if mass-dependent and mass-independent Hg isotope fractionations can provide insight into the origin and transport vectors of Hg during the Permian–Triassic transition

Methods

Results

Conclusion