Centennial scale sequences of environmental deterioration preceded the end-Permian mass extinction.

ABSTRACT: The exact drivers for the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) remain controversial. Here we focus on a ~10,000 yr record from the marine type section at Meishan, China, preceding and covering the onset of the EPME. Analyses of polyaromatic hydrocarbons at sampling intervals representing 1.5-6.3 yr reveal recurrent pulses of wildfires in the terrestrial realm. Massive input pulses of soil-derived organic matter and clastic materials into the oceans are indicated by patterns of C₂-dibenzofuran, C₃₀ hopane and aluminum. Importantly, in the ~2,000 years preceding the main phase of the EPME, we observe a clearly defined sequence of wildfires, soil weathering, and euxinia provoked by the fertilization of the marine environment with soil-derived nutrients. Euxinia is indicate

SUBMITTER: Saito R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10104797 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature