Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse

Sun, Yongge; Joachimski, Michael M.; Wignall, Paul B.; Yan, Chunbo; Chen, Yanlong; Jiang, Haishui; Wang, Lina; Lai, Xulong

doi:10.1126/science.1224126

Cited by 912 publications

(722 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…For example, it is crucial to know whether the ∼10°C increase in sea surface temperature close to the extinction interval slightly predates or postdates the onset of the mass extinction (9,33) (Fig. S1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction

Burgess

Bowring

Shen

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

607

479

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Significance Mass extinctions are major drivers of macroevolutionary change and mark fundamental transitions in the history of life, yet the feedbacks between environmental perturbation and biological response, which occur on submillennial timescales, are poorly understood. We present a high-precision age model for the end-Permian mass extinction, which was the most severe loss of marine and terrestrial biota in the last 542 My, that allows exploration of the sequence of events at millennial to decamillenial timescales 252 Mya. This record is critical for a better understanding of the punctuated nature and duration of the extinction, the reorganization of the carbon cycle, and a refined evaluation of potential trigger and kill mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sea surface paleotemperature increases ∼10°C (∼23-33°C) over the extinction interval (9,33), beginning near the base of bed 25 and continuing into the early Triassic (Fig. S1).…”

Section: New Age Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction

Burgess

Bowring

Shen

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

607

479

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“…The relatively stable and high δ 18 O CAS in this period indicates that MSR remained important during the Early Triassic. Persisting high levels of MSR suggests a prevailing large OC pool, together with a long-lasting (∼800 ky) increase in continental weathering (35), a perturbed carbon cycle, and high global temperatures, the latter two returning in intervals throughout a period of almost 4 My (47,48). These Earth surface processes are regarded as an important negative feedback loop of the carbon cycle, where enhanced production and sequestration of OC is stimulated by global warming and subsequent chemical weathering rates (36).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flourishing ocean drives the end-Permian marine mass extinction

Schobben

Stebbins

Ghaderi

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in the Phanerozoic, was accompanied by climate change and expansion of oceanic anoxic zones. The partitioning of sulfur among different exogenic reservoirs by biological and physical processes was of importance for this biodiversity crisis, but the exact role of bioessential sulfur in the mass extinction is still unclear. Here we show that globally increased production of organic matter affected the seawater sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope signature that has been recorded in carbonate rock spanning the Permian−Triassic boundary. A bifurcating temporal trend is observed for the strata spanning the marine mass extinction with carbonate-associated sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope excursions toward decreased and increased values, respectively. By coupling these results to a box model, we show that increased marine productivity and successive enhanced microbial sulfate reduction is the most likely scenario to explain these temporal trends. The new data demonstrate that worldwide expansion of euxinic and anoxic zones are symptoms of increased biological carbon recycling in the marine realm initiated by global warming. The spatial distribution of sulfidic water column conditions in shallow seafloor environments is dictated by the severity and geographic patterns of nutrient fluxes and serves as an adequate model to explain the scale of the marine biodiversity crisis. Our results provide evidence that the major biodiversity crises in Earth's history do not necessarily implicate an ocean stripped of (most) life but rather the demise of certain eukaryotic organisms, leading to a decline in species richness.sulfur cycle | end-Permian mass extinction | primary productivity

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“…The SSB witnessed major changes among marine biotas, including a severe loss of biodiversity among conodonts and ammonoids (Orchard, 2007;Stanley, 2009;Brayard et al, 2009), size reduction (Lilliput effect) among surviving conodont taxa , and a contraction of the paleolatitudinal range of surviving ammonoid taxa (Galfetti et al, 2007;Brayard et al, 2009). The SSB also marked a major change in global climate, with strong tropical sea-surface cooling (Sun et al, 2012;Romano et al, 2013) and a steepening of the latitudinal temperature gradient (Galfetti et al, 2007). To date, however, the SSB event has received detailed study only in several sections in South China (Galfetti et al, 2007;Liang et al, 2011) and the Salt Range of Pakistan (Hermann et al, 2011).…”

Section: Zhang Et Al: Amelioration Of Marine Environments At the mentioning

confidence: 99%

Amelioration of marine environments at the Smithian–Spathian boundary, Early Triassic

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The protracted recovery of marine ecosystems following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction may have been caused, in part, by episodic environmental and climatic crises during the Early Triassic, among which the SmithianSpathian boundary (SSB) event is conspicuous. Here, we investigate the SSB event in the Shitouzhai section, Guizhou Province, South China, using a combination of carbonate carbon (δ 13 C carb ) and carbonate-associated sulfate sulfur isotopes (δ 34 S CAS ), rare earth elements, and elemental paleoredox and paleoproductivity proxies. The SSB at Shitouzhai is characterized by a +4 ‰ shift in δ 13 C carb and a −10 to −15 ‰ shift in δ 34 S CAS , recording negative covariation that diverges from the positive δ 13 C carb -δ 34 S CAS covariation that characterizes most of the Early Triassic. This pattern is inferred to reflect an increase in organic carbon burial (e.g., due to elevated marine productivity) concurrently with the oxidation of isotopically light H 2 S, as the result of enhanced vertical advection of nutrient-and sulfide-rich deep waters to the ocean-surface layer. Enhanced upwelling was likely a response to climatic cooling and the reinvigoration of globalocean overturning circulation at the SSB. Coeval decreases in chemical weathering intensity and detrital sediment flux at Shitouzhai are also consistent with climatic cooling. A decline in marine biodiversity was probably associated with the late Smithian thermal maximum (LSTM) rather than with the SSB per se. The SSB thus marked the termination of the extreme hothouse conditions of the GriesbachianSmithian substages of the Early Triassic and is significant as a record of accompanying climatic, environmental, and biotic changes. The ultimate cause of the SSB event is uncertain but may have been related to a reduction in intrusive magmatic activity in the Siberian Traps large igneous province.

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Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse

Cited by 912 publications

References 90 publications

High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction

High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction

Flourishing ocean drives the end-Permian marine mass extinction

Amelioration of marine environments at the Smithian–Spathian boundary, Early Triassic

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