School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 2;15(1):7628. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51671-5.
The Permo-Triassic mass extinction was linked to catastrophic environmental changes and large igneous province (LIP) volcanism. In addition to the widespread marine losses, the Permo-Triassic event was the most severe terrestrial ecological crisis in Earth's history and the only known mass extinction among insects, but the cause of extinction on land remains unclear. In this study, high-resolution Hg concentration records and multiple-archive S-isotope analyses of sediments from the Junggar Basin (China) provide evidence of repeated pulses of volcanic-S (acid rain) and increased Hg loading culminating in a crisis of terrestrial biota in the Junggar Basin coeval with the interval of LIP emplacement. Minor S-isotope analyses are, however, inconsistent with total ozone layer collapse. Our data suggest that LIP volcanism repeatedly stressed end-Permian terrestrial environments in the ~300 kyr preceding the marine extinction locally via S-driven acidification and deposition of Hg, and globally via pulsed addition of CO.
二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝与灾难性的环境变化和大火成岩省（LIP）火山活动有关。除了广泛的海洋生物灭绝外，二叠纪-三叠纪事件是地球历史上最严重的陆地生态危机，也是已知的昆虫灭绝事件之一，但陆地灭绝的原因仍不清楚。在这项研究中，来自准噶尔盆地（中国）的沉积物的高分辨率汞浓度记录和多档案 S 同位素分析提供了证据，表明火山 S（酸雨）的反复脉冲和汞负荷的增加导致了准噶尔盆地陆地生物群的危机，与大火成岩省就位的时间一致。然而，次要的 S 同位素分析与总臭氧层崩溃不一致。我们的数据表明，大火成岩省火山活动在海洋灭绝前的约 300 千年前，通过 S 驱动的酸化和汞的沉积，以及通过 CO 的脉冲添加，在当地和全球范围内反复给二叠纪末期的陆地环境带来压力。
