| Title | Biotic responses to volatile volcanism and environmental stresses over the Guadalupian-Lopingian (Permian) transition |
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| Author | Huang, Y; Chen, Z -Q; Wignall, P B; Grasby, S E ; Zhao, L; Wang, X; Kaiho, K |
| Source | Geology vol. 47, no. 2, 2018 p. 175-178, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45283.1  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2018 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20180344 |
| Publisher | Geological Society of America |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf; html |
| Area | Hongshui River; China |
| Lat/Long WENS | 108.0000 110.0000 25.0000 23.0000 |
| Subjects | paleontology; stratigraphy; sedimentology; geochemistry; extinctions, biotic; biota; microorganisms; benthos; fossils; reefs; volcanism; paleoenvironment; paleoecology; geochemical anomalies; mercury
geochemistry; organic carbon analyses; isotopic studies; carbon isotopes; sea level changes; biostratigraphy; fossil distribution, strata; Guadalupian-Lopingian Boundary; Penglaitan Section; Metazoa; Corals; Bivalves; Alatoconchids; nektonic
organisms; Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP); Biodiversity; Phanerozoic; Paleozoic; Permian |
| Illustrations | geoscientific sketch maps; photographs; photomicrographs; lithologic sections; geochemical profiles; profiles; biostratigraphic charts |
| Program | GEM2: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Western Arctic, Pearya Terrane, North Ellesmere |
| Program | IGCP Project 630 - Permian-Triassic Climatic and Environmental Extremes and Biotic Response |
| Released | 2018 12 31 |
| Abstract | Biotic extinction during the Guadalupian-Lopingian (G-L) transition is actively debated, with its timing, validity, and causality all questioned. Here, we show, based on detailed sedimentary,
paleoecologic, and geochemical analyses of the Penglaitan section in South China, that this intra-Permian biotic crisis began with the demise of a metazoan reef system and extinction of corals and alatoconchid bivalves in the late Guadalupian. A
second crisis, among nektonic organisms, occurred around the G-L boundary. Mercury concentration/total organic carbon (Hg/TOC) ratios show two anomalies. The first Hg/TOC peak broadly coincides with the reef collapse and a positive shift in
delta-199Hg values during a lowstand interval, which was followed by microbial proliferation. A larger Hg/TOC peak is found just above the G-L boundary and speculatively represents a main eruption episode of the Emeishan large igneous province
(ELIP). This volatile volcanism coincided with nektonic extinction, a negative delta-13C(carb) excursion, anoxia, and sea-level rise. The temporal coincidence of these phenomena supports a cause-and-effect relationship and indicates that the eruption
of the ELIP likely triggered the G-L crisis. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Based on methodology developed by GSC researchers, an international team examined the potential to use mercury concentrations in the rock record as a
global chemostratigraphic tool to provide an absolute age control as well as to examine the impact of volcanism (and associated release of CO2) on global climate and ecosystems. To test this a study was conducted on samples across a major extinction
interval that occurred within Permian time from sections of south China to compare with those previously studied in Arctic Canada. Results show that release of CO2 gas and other volatiles from a major volcanic eruption did indeed drive mass
extinction at that time. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 313395 |
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