TY - JOUR
T1 - Mercury isotope evidence for recurrent photic-zone euxinia triggered by enhanced terrestrial nutrient inputs during the Late Devonian mass extinction
AU - Zheng, Wang
AU - Gilleaudeau, Geoffrey J.
AU - Algeo, Thomas J.
AU - Zhao, Yaqiu
AU - Song, Yi
AU - Zhang, Yuanming
AU - Sahoo, Swapan K.
AU - Anbar, Ariel D.
AU - Carmichael, Sarah K.
AU - Xie, Shucheng
AU - Liu, Cong Qiang
AU - Chen, Jiubin
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 41973009 , 41625012 ) and National Science Foundation of United States (award No. EAR 1760203 to A.D.A.). G.J.G. thanks the NASA Postdoctoral Program, which provided funds for travel and sample collection. We thank Pengfei Li and Lixin Zhang for assistance with MC-ICP-MS measurements.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/7/1
Y1 - 2023/7/1
N2 - Widespread oceanic anoxia marked by globally extensive deposition of organic-rich black shale during the Late Devonian was a major factor in the mass extinctions at the Frasnian-Famennian (FFB, ∼372 million years ago) and Devonian-Carboniferous boundaries (DCB, ∼359 million years ago), although the triggers for these deoxygenation events are still under debate. Here, we apply a novel paleoredox proxy, Hg isotopes, to investigate Late Devonian ocean redox variation and its causes. We found no Hg enrichments in North America across either the FFB or DCB, thus arguing against the hypothesis of global-scale volcanism as the trigger for Late Devonian environmental and biotic crises. Gradual negative shifts of both mass-independent fractionation (Δ199Hg) and mass-dependent fractionation (δ202Hg) occurred between the FFB and DCB, suggesting a progressive increase of Hg inputs associated with terrestrial organic matter. Moreover, multiple abrupt negative excursions of Δ199Hg (down to −0.19‰) along with concurrent positive shifts of δ202Hg occurred just above the FFB and across the DCB, providing strong evidence for recurrent photic-zone euxinia (PZE) that was preceded by increasing terrestrial inputs in the epicontinental seas of North America. We suggest that the increase of terrestrial inputs of nutrients, probably via expansion of vascular land plants, stimulated marine primary productivity and eventually PZE, which may have been a key kill mechanism for the Late Devonian mass extinction.
AB - Widespread oceanic anoxia marked by globally extensive deposition of organic-rich black shale during the Late Devonian was a major factor in the mass extinctions at the Frasnian-Famennian (FFB, ∼372 million years ago) and Devonian-Carboniferous boundaries (DCB, ∼359 million years ago), although the triggers for these deoxygenation events are still under debate. Here, we apply a novel paleoredox proxy, Hg isotopes, to investigate Late Devonian ocean redox variation and its causes. We found no Hg enrichments in North America across either the FFB or DCB, thus arguing against the hypothesis of global-scale volcanism as the trigger for Late Devonian environmental and biotic crises. Gradual negative shifts of both mass-independent fractionation (Δ199Hg) and mass-dependent fractionation (δ202Hg) occurred between the FFB and DCB, suggesting a progressive increase of Hg inputs associated with terrestrial organic matter. Moreover, multiple abrupt negative excursions of Δ199Hg (down to −0.19‰) along with concurrent positive shifts of δ202Hg occurred just above the FFB and across the DCB, providing strong evidence for recurrent photic-zone euxinia (PZE) that was preceded by increasing terrestrial inputs in the epicontinental seas of North America. We suggest that the increase of terrestrial inputs of nutrients, probably via expansion of vascular land plants, stimulated marine primary productivity and eventually PZE, which may have been a key kill mechanism for the Late Devonian mass extinction.
KW - Devonian-Carboniferous boundary
KW - Frasnian-Famennian boundary
KW - Hangenberg
KW - Kellwasser
KW - mercury isotopes
KW - photic zone euxinia
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U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118175
DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118175
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85158006505
SN - 0012-821X
VL - 613
JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
M1 - 118175
ER -