Shallow marine ecosystem feedback to the Permian/Triassic mass extinction

Abstract

Late Permian reefs developed widely on shallow marine carbonate platforms in South China but disappeared far below the main mass extinction level of the latest Permian. The collapse of reef ecosystem may be related to the enhanced volcanism at the end of Late Permian. Notably, some colony corals and reef-building sponges were found to occur near the mass extinction boundary, inferring the eclipse of reef ecosystem is ahead of the disappearance of reef-building organisms, and the triggers would be present long before the main mass extinction. As the primary producers, the calcareous algae are rich in platform limestones of Late Permian and played a very important role in maintaining the shallow benthic ecosystems. The calcareous algae were found to disappear synchronously with the great reduction of foraminifers, which were ecologically associated with these algae. The extinction of Late Permian calcareous algae greatly reduced the biodiversity of primary producers in the shallow marine environment and destroyed in part the structure and the base of the shallow marine ecosystems, which in turn cause the extinction of ecologically associated metazoan. Microbialites developed on carbonate platforms immediately after the end-Permian mass extinction, representing a simple and unique microbial ecosystem. Widespread occurrence of microbialites symbolized the deterioration of marine environmental conditions and the dramatic revolution of marine ecosystems. As the new primary producers instead of the extinguished calcareous algae, cyanobacteria in the microbialites were an important base of this peculiar ecosystem and contributed greatly to the survival of the remnant faunas after the mass extinction. Widespread occurrence of microbialites in shallow marine environment is suggested to be related to the elevated level of volcanism-induced greenhouse gases and enhanced evaporation and hypersaline condition in addition to the decrease of metazoan grazing pressure. The change from calcareous algae and reef ecosystem to the cyanobacteria-dominated microbial ecosystem documented in the shallow marine sequences in South china is the ecological feedback to the deterioration of the marine environmental conditions probably induced by volcanism.