Persistent oxic deep ocean conditions and frequent volcanic activities during the Frasnian-Famennian transition recorded in South China

Abstract

Abstract The Frasnian-Famennian (F F) transition of Late Devonian was a critical episode in geological history, recording a major mass extinction event. In this study, we focus on an F F succession from a deep marine context in Bancheng, southern Guangxi, South China, to investigate coeval changes in pelagic environments of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. The studied succession is exclusively composed of bedded cherts intercalated with multiple siliceous volcanic ash beds. A SIMS zircon U Pb Concordia age of 367.8 ± 2.5 Ma is reported for a tuffaceous layer slightly above the F F boundary. Geochemical ratios of Al/(Al + Fe + Mn), Ce/Ce*, Y/Ho, and Al, Fe contents in bedded cherts indicate that they are of predominantly biogenic/chemical origin with some terrigenous inputs. Negligible enrichment of redox sensitive elements (Mo, U, V) and low V/Cr ratios ( F transition. These findings call into question the widely held hypothesis that marine anoxia was the primary killing mechanism for the F F crisis. In contrast, multiple tuffaceous layers throughout the F F boundary succession indicate frequent volcanic activity, which could have released massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, inducing climate warming. This scenario may have increased continental weathering and riverine fluxes into the ocean, reconciling the increases in Al2O3 content and Al/(Al + Fe + Mn) ratio across the F F boundary. Documentation of persistently oxic conditions and frequent volcanic activitiy provides new perspectives on the inter-relationship between volcanism, climate, and oceanic redox fluctuation during the F F biotic crisis.