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Volcanic temperature changes modulated volatile release and climate fluctuations at the end-Triassic mass extinction

Kaiho, Kunio ; Tanaka, Daisuke ; Richoz, Sylvain LU ; Jones, David S. ; Saito, Ryosuke ; Kameyama, Daichi ; Ikeda, Masayuki ; Takahashi, Satoshi ; Aftabuzzaman, Md and Fujibayashi, Megumu (2022) In Earth and Planetary Science Letters 579.
Abstract

Emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) is thought to have triggered global environmental changes and the end-Triassic mass extinction (ETE). However, the mechanisms linking volcanism and environmental change are unclear. Here we provide new insight into these linkages by measuring the abundance of both sedimentary five- to six-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury from strata deposited in shallow marine environments across the ETE at the GSSP Kuhjoch section in Austria and St. Audrie's Bay section in the UK. To contextualize these data, we report results from laboratory experiments measuring the production of SO2 and CO2 during heating of limestone and mudstone. ETE... (More)

Emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) is thought to have triggered global environmental changes and the end-Triassic mass extinction (ETE). However, the mechanisms linking volcanism and environmental change are unclear. Here we provide new insight into these linkages by measuring the abundance of both sedimentary five- to six-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury from strata deposited in shallow marine environments across the ETE at the GSSP Kuhjoch section in Austria and St. Audrie's Bay section in the UK. To contextualize these data, we report results from laboratory experiments measuring the production of SO2 and CO2 during heating of limestone and mudstone. ETE sediments record parallel enrichments of mercury and five- to six-ring PAHs, which could have been produced by intrusive magma (mainly sills) and lava flows during the early stage of the CAMP emplacement; these data indicate a direct link between massive gas emission from sill contact metamorphism and the ETE. The fraction of coronene – a highly condensed six-ring PAH that requires greater energy to form compared to smaller PAHs – accumulated in the sediments during these initial volcanic events is low, and it coincides with the terrestrial plant turnover and initial marine extinction. Coronene increases to medium values coinciding with the final marine extinction level. Our heating experiments of typical carbonate and mudstone materials show that relatively low temperature heating (>350 °C) by sills releases massive amounts of SO2 on a 100 yr time scale, whereas higher temperature heating (500–600 °C) forms more CO2 on the same time scale. The combination of our end-Triassic geochemical data and laboratory results implies that low heating by sills caused SO2-dominated gas emission to the stratosphere and low CO2 emission, inducing global cooling that could have precipitated the mass extinction. The subsequent increase in coronene content indicates higher volcanic temperature that would have volatilized CO2 rich gas; the consequence was a switch to greater CO2 release and long-term (>105 yr) global warming.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
climate, combustion, end-Triassic extinction, proxy for LIP emplacement, volatile release, volcanism temperature
in
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
volume
579
article number
117364
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85122612203
ISSN
0012-821X
DOI
10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117364
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
id
6f2ac6f4-413a-4048-80eb-e6e15c8fbead
date added to LUP
2022-02-11 15:40:23
date last changed
2022-04-21 17:33:19
@article{6f2ac6f4-413a-4048-80eb-e6e15c8fbead,
  abstract     = {{<p>Emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) is thought to have triggered global environmental changes and the end-Triassic mass extinction (ETE). However, the mechanisms linking volcanism and environmental change are unclear. Here we provide new insight into these linkages by measuring the abundance of both sedimentary five- to six-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury from strata deposited in shallow marine environments across the ETE at the GSSP Kuhjoch section in Austria and St. Audrie's Bay section in the UK. To contextualize these data, we report results from laboratory experiments measuring the production of SO<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub> during heating of limestone and mudstone. ETE sediments record parallel enrichments of mercury and five- to six-ring PAHs, which could have been produced by intrusive magma (mainly sills) and lava flows during the early stage of the CAMP emplacement; these data indicate a direct link between massive gas emission from sill contact metamorphism and the ETE. The fraction of coronene – a highly condensed six-ring PAH that requires greater energy to form compared to smaller PAHs – accumulated in the sediments during these initial volcanic events is low, and it coincides with the terrestrial plant turnover and initial marine extinction. Coronene increases to medium values coinciding with the final marine extinction level. Our heating experiments of typical carbonate and mudstone materials show that relatively low temperature heating (&gt;350 °C) by sills releases massive amounts of SO<sub>2</sub> on a 100 yr time scale, whereas higher temperature heating (500–600 °C) forms more CO<sub>2</sub> on the same time scale. The combination of our end-Triassic geochemical data and laboratory results implies that low heating by sills caused SO<sub>2</sub>-dominated gas emission to the stratosphere and low CO<sub>2</sub> emission, inducing global cooling that could have precipitated the mass extinction. The subsequent increase in coronene content indicates higher volcanic temperature that would have volatilized CO<sub>2</sub> rich gas; the consequence was a switch to greater CO<sub>2</sub> release and long-term (&gt;10<sup>5</sup> yr) global warming.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kaiho, Kunio and Tanaka, Daisuke and Richoz, Sylvain and Jones, David S. and Saito, Ryosuke and Kameyama, Daichi and Ikeda, Masayuki and Takahashi, Satoshi and Aftabuzzaman, Md and Fujibayashi, Megumu}},
  issn         = {{0012-821X}},
  keywords     = {{climate; combustion; end-Triassic extinction; proxy for LIP emplacement; volatile release; volcanism temperature}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Earth and Planetary Science Letters}},
  title        = {{Volcanic temperature changes modulated volatile release and climate fluctuations at the end-Triassic mass extinction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117364}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117364}},
  volume       = {{579}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}