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An abrupt rise in temperature, forced by a massive input of CO 2 into the atmosphere, is commonly invoked as the main trigger for Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs). Global warming initiated a cascade of palaeoenvironmental perturbations starting with increased continental weathering and an accelerated hydrological cycle that delivered higher loads of nutrients to coastal areas, stimulating biological productivity.The end-result was widespread anoxia and deposition of black shales: the hallmarks of OAEs. In order to assess the role of weathering as both an OAE initiator and terminator (via CO 2 sequestration) during the Early Aptian OAE 1a (Selli Event, ~120 Ma) the isotopic ratio of lithium isotopes was analysed in three sections of shallowmarine carbonates from the Pacific and Tethyan realm and one basinal pelagic section from the Tethyan domain. Because the isotopic composition of lithium in seawater is largely controlled by continental silicate weathering and high-and lowtemperature alteration of basaltic material, a shift to lighter  7 Li values is expected to characterize OAEs. The studied sections illustrate this phenomenon:  7 Li values decrease to a minimum coincident with the negative carbon-isotope excursion that effectively records the onset of OAE 1a. A second negative  7 Li excursion occurs coeval with the minimum in strontium isotopes after the event. The striking similarity to the strontium-isotope record argues for a common driver. The formation and destruction (weathering) of an oceanic LIP could account for the parallel trend in both isotope systems. The double-spike in lithium isotopes is probably related to a change in weathering congruencies. Such a chemostratigraphy is consistent with the hypothesis that an increase in silicate weathering, in conjunction with organic-carbon burial, led to drawdown of atmospheric CO 2 during the early Aptian OAE 1a.

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A two-step pattern in the extinction of larger foraminifers is recorded in the upper Cenomanian shallow-water carbonates of the southern Apennines (Italy). The fi rst step eliminated the alveolinids, the most extreme oligotrophs, and reduced dramatically the diversity of larger foraminifers. The second step wiped out the few survivors, seemingly able to tolerate mesotrophic conditions, leaving a disaster fauna dominated by small heterotrophs. This pattern of extinction parallels the ecological succession of shallow-water benthic foraminiferal assemblages along a gradient of increasing nutrient availability. High-resolution carbon isotope stratigraphy shows that the extinction of alveolinids was contemporaneous with the extinction of rotaliporid planktic foraminifers, the drowning of certain Tethyan carbonate platforms, and an episode of thermal instability recorded in sea-surface temperature in the open ocean. Ocean stratifi cation, during the fi rst phase of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, would have promoted oligotrophic conditions in surface tropical waters and maximum diversity of larger foraminifers. Following this, ocean overturning caused by surface-water cooling is credited with delivering to shallow-water environments the excess nutrient loads previously stored at depth, triggering the environmental changes leading to stepwise extinction of larger foraminifers.