Mercury anomalies, volcanic pulses, and drowning episodes along the northern Tethyan margin during the latest Hauterivian-earliest Aptian

Abstract

The latest Hauterivian-earliest Aptian time interval includes three episodes of significant environmental change (Faraoni, late early-Barremian, and Taxy Episodes). This time interval appears to partially overlap with large-scale volcanic activity related to the Tristan da Cunha plume along the Rio Grande Rise, High Arctic large igneous province volcanism, and the early phase in the formation of the greater Ontong Java LIP in the Pacific. The establishment of exact temporal relationships between volcanic activity and environmental change remains, however, a major challenge, due to the scarcity of numerical ages for the Early Cretaceous. We report mercury (Hg) contents in uppermost Hauterivian-lowermost Aptian marl/limestone alternations from seven sections along a NS transect in the Western Tethys. The Hg contents in marl samples display rather scattered records, which are generally well correlated with the total organic carbon (TOC) records. In associated limestone beds, five distinct spikes in Hg concentrations occur in three intervals (latest Hauterivian, early Barremian, and latest Barremian). The small amounts of organic matter (<0.2 wt%) in the limestones suggest that organic matter only played a limited role in Hg sequestration. Three Hg peaks in the middle of the Balearites balearis Zone, in the Faraoni level, and in the early Barremian occur only in one of the seven studied sections, which indicate a regionally variable distribution of Hg during these episodes. However, two distinct enrichments in Hg concentrations at the top of the B. balearis Zone (below the Faraoni level) and the M. sarasini Zone (below the Taxy level) appear comparable and correlatable between the sections. These data indicate that important volcanic activity antedating the Faraoni and the Taxy episodes may have contributed to the onset of associated environmental and ecological perturbations during the latest Hauterivian and latest Barremian, such as carbonate platform drowning phases.