Nickel isotopes link Siberian Traps aerosol particles to the end-Permian mass extinction

Abstract

The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, and the Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is widely hypothesized to have been the primary trigger for the environmental catastrophe. The killing mechanisms depend critically on the nature of volatiles ejected during STLIP eruptions, initiating about 300 kyr before the extinction event, because the atmosphere is the primary interface between magmatism and extinction. Here we report Ni isotopes for Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks from Arctic Canada. The δ60Ni data range from −1.09‰ to 0.35‰, and exhibit the lightest δ60Ni compositions ever reported for sedimentary rocks. Our results provide strong evidence for global dispersion and loading of Ni-rich aerosol particles into the Panthalassic Ocean. Our data demonstrate that environmental degradation had begun well before the extinction event and provide a link between global dispersion of Ni-rich aerosols, ocean chemistry changes, and the EPME.

Phosphorus Cycle and Primary Productivity Changes in the Tethys Ocean During the Permian-Triassic Transition: Starving Marine Ecosystems

“…Indeed, peaks in Ni contents coinciding with the negative shift in δ 13 C were reported for several P-T sections (Rothman et al, 2014;Rampino et al, 2017;Li et al, 2021). Furthermore, Li et al (2021) found that Ni-rich beds of the Buchanan Lake section exhibit extremely light Ni stable isotopic compositions corroborating a volcanogenic signature (δ 60 Ni down to −1.09‰). In contrast the Ni-records from Chibi and Chanakhchi are not showing such a relationship, i.e., Ni contents are already low when the negative excursion in δ 13 C starts (Figure 5).…”

“…However, an alternative source of Ni could be through the deposition of Ni-rich aerosols released to the atmosphere during Siberian Traps volcanism (Le Vaillant et al, 2017). Indeed, peaks in Ni contents coinciding with the negative shift in δ 13 C were reported for several P-T sections (Rothman et al, 2014;Rampino et al, 2017;Li et al, 2021). Furthermore, Li et al (2021) found that Ni-rich beds of the Buchanan Lake section exhibit extremely light Ni stable isotopic compositions corroborating a volcanogenic signature (δ 60 Ni down to −1.09‰).…”

Palaeoenvironments and elemental geochemistry across the Permian–Triassic boundary at Ursula Creek, British Columbia, Canada, and a comparison with some other deep‐water Permian–Triassic boundary shelf/slope sections in western North America

“…Here, clinoforms of Tertiary sediments drape over Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous passive margin and deep ocean sediments, formed during opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean, which unconformably overlie Upper Triassic rifts, and where the effects of ca 400 km removal of shelf deposits during thrusting can be demonstrated (Figure S1). The epicontinental PTr Arctic Sverdrup Basin has many sedimentary and palaeoenvironmental similarities with the western North American PTr passive margin (Beauchamp et al, 2009;Li et al, 2021), but is a separate basin, with its own history (Blakey, 2021;Stephenson et al, 1992). A comparison of the two basins is beyond the scope of this paper.…”

“…Few Permian-Triassic (PTr) boundary sections have been studied in sufficient detail (at less than 1 m sample spacing), to document the relatively short-term environmental changes proposed to account for the extinction which usually takes place between a major change in lithology, the End Permian Event Horizon (EPEH) and the biostratigraphic start of the Triassic, the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of the conodoont Hindeodus parvus. This is now being remedied (Brookfield et al, 2020a(Brookfield et al, , 2020b(Brookfield et al, , 2020cDudás et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2021), although geochemical studies tend to concentrate on a specific group of elements (Georgiev et al, 2011;Li et al, 2021;Rampino et al, 2017;Saitoh, 2021).…”

Trepostome bryozoans buck the trend and ignore calcite-aragonite seas

“…Ma;Erwin 2006;Li et al 2021). Both had major impacts on bryozoan globally(Taylor and Larwood 1988;Tuckey and Anstey 1992;Powers and Bottjer 2009;Taylor 2020).…”