Volcanism at the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China and Its Effects on Mass Extinction

This paper discusses the clayrocks widespread at the Permian-Triassic boundary, which are mostly of volcanic origin. Volcanogenetic textures, structures and minerals such as high-temperature quartz are found in clayrocks at the Permian-Triassic boundary in many places. Thousands of microspherules have been collected from the Boundary clayrocks, many of which exhibit the typical features of the process from melting to cooling and solidification. indicating that they were formed by volcanic eruption or extraterrestrial impact. Volcanic effects on the Permian-Triassic mass extinction may be reflected in conodonts, algae and ammonoids. The Boundary clayrocks are found in many Permian-Triassic sections along the coast of Tethys. Their orighin remains to be studied.

Stratigraphical Time——Correlation and Mass Extinction Event Near Permian——Triassic Boundary in South China

Shaw's method used to correlate 40 sections across the Permo-Triassic boundary in South China is applied in the paper. Two steps are adopted to get an Integral Composite Section (ICS) by synthesizing these data : First , South China is divided into five areas and composite section developed for each area . Then the second step . the Changxing composite section is regarded as a composite standard (CSRS) while the ICS is produced by matching the CSRS with composite sections of the other areas. Three biozones in the Changxingian and two biozones in the Griesbachian can be discerned on the basis of computing Z values in the ICS. These biozones are marked by the Z values which quantitatively represent their time ranges ; therefore , they may increase accuracy of stratigraphic time correlation . The mass extinction at the end of the Permian is an abrupt event that is supported by the relative rate of extinction near the P/T boundary . About 90% of invertebrate species died out by the end of the Permian . The duration of the mass extinction is rather short ,approximately 0.018Ma .

Biostratigraphy and Mass Extinction Pattern across the Cretaceous/Paleogene Boundary, Northern Alborz, Iran

High resolution sampling across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary (K/Pg) at the Galanderud section in northern Iran provides the most expanded and continuous section for us to consider biostratigraphy and the mass extinction pattern of Cretaceous planktic foraminifera. Based on planktic foraminifera, four biozones and five sub-biozones have been identified across the K/Pg boundary. These biozones include the Abathomphalus mayaroensis Biozone (Plummerita hantkeninoides subbiozone), the Guembelitria cretacea Biozone (including two sub-biozones: the Hedbergella holmdelensis and the Parvularugoglobigerina longiapertura), the Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Biozone (including two subbiozones: the Parvularugoglobigerina Sabina and the Eoglobigerina simplicissima) and finely the Parasubbotina pseudobulloides Biozone. Planktic foraminiferal extinction occurred over a brief period, with 3% of the species disappearing in the late Maastrichtian, and 72% of the species becaming extinct at the K/Pg boundary. About 25% of the species survived into the early Danian. Extinction of 73% of the species at the K/Pg boundary is very compatible with the effect of a large asteroid impact.

Determination of Fullerenes (C60/C70) from the Permian-Triassic Boundary in the Meishan Section of South China

Fullerenes (C 60 /C 70 ), clays and rocks near the Permian-Triassic (P/T) boundary in the Meishan section of South China are explored by means of comprehensive analytical techniques, including ultrasonic extraction with column purification, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of- flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS). The study confirms the existence of fullerenes toward the P/T event boundary and their absence in clays and limestones beyond the boundary. In particular, the white clay, known as the event boundary, contains fullerenes of 0.33 ppb, while the red material, as the first lamina fill of goethite and gypsum on the base of the white clay, contains fullerenes of 1.23 ppb, and the last lamina of 2.50 ppb. Significantly, distinct enrichment of fullerenes is coincident with the disappearance of fossil records of marine species (94%) just at the base of the white clay, implying that geological fullerenes would be one of temporal remnants led by the P/T catastrophic event. This work strongly supports that fullerenes would be one of significant records of the P/T catastrophic event but their origin remains to be studied further.

Analysis of platinum-group elements in drill core samples from the Meishan Permian-Triassic boundary section, China

There is a long-standing controversy of what triggered the extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary, the most severe mass extinction in the geologic record, including flood basaltic volcanism and/or bolide impact hypothesis. In order to clarify various pieces of evidence for the mass extinction event at the Permian-Triassic boundary, some researchers from some laboratories throughout the world have made a comprehensive study on a group of samples from the Meishan area of China. Some fresh core samples from the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Meishan area were analyzed in this study. The results showed that there is no Ir anomaly. Moreover, the PGEs patterns of those samples show obvious differentiation characteristics, that is different from the case encountered in meteorites. So no evidence supports the hypothesis of extraterrestrial impact. In contrast, the PGEs patterns are similar to those of Siberian and Emeishan basalts, which indicates that those PGEs are derived mainly from the basalts, lending a support to the correlation between mass extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary and flood basaltic volcanism. This study has also confirmed the results for samples from section C prior to the analysis of the samples.

Ostracod fauna across the Permian-Triassic boundary at Chongyang, Hubei Province, and its implication for the process of the mass extinction

Thirty species of 10 ostracod genera were identified from 440 fossil specimens isolated through the hot acetolysis of the rock samples collected across the Permian-Triassic boundary at Chongyang section. Twenty species of 6 genera are found to occur in the limestone of Changxing Formation, and 11 species of 7 genera above the main faunal mass extinction horizon. The os-tracod assemblages identified at the Chongyang section are obviously different from those previously reported in the contem-poraneous microbialites in Guangxi and Chongqing regions, not only in the ostracod components but also in the abundance of filter-feeding ostracods relative to the deposit-feeding ostracods, an indicator of the oxygen level of the seawater. This spatial difference in ostracod assemblages might reflect the diversity of oceanic environmental conditions after the end-Permian mass extinction. Ostracods disappear at 200 cm below and near the main mass extinction horizon, and on the top of the microbialites, respectively, showing an episodic and gradual collapse process at the Chongyang section. The carbon isotope composition is found to appear at 200 cm below the main mass extinction horizon, indicating the initial deterioration of oceanic environment. Fluctuation of the carbon isotope composition is obviously related with the episodic evolution of ostracod species, but not with the abundance of ostracods.

Palaeogeographic variation in the Permian-Triassic boundary microbialites:A discussion of microbial and ocean process esafter the end-Permian mass extinction

Shallow marine carbonate sediments that formed after the end-Permian mass extinction are rich in a thin(maximum ca.15 m) deposit of microbialites.Microbial communities that constructed the microbialites have geographic variability of composition,broadly divisible into two groups:1) eastern Tethys sites are calcimicrobe-dominated(appearing as thrombolites in the field),with rare occurrence of sedimentconstructed microbialites and uncommon cements either within microbial structure or as inorganic precipitates,2) other Tethys sites are sediment-dominated structures forming stromatolites and thrombolites,composed of micrites and cements,with some inorganic precipitates.These other Tethys locations include western and central Tethys sites but their palaeogeographic positions depend on the accuracy of continental reconstructions,of which there are several opinions.In contrast to geographic variation of microbialites,the conodont Hindeodus parvus,which appeared after the extinction and defines the base of the Triassic,is widespread,indicating easy lateral migration throughout Tethys.Conodont animals were active nekton,although being small animals were presumably at least partly carried by water currents,implying active Tethyan surface water circulation after the extinction event.Post-extinction ammonoid taxa,presumed active swimmers,show poor evidence of a wide distribution in the Griesbachian beds immediately after the extinction,but are more cosmopolitan higher up,in the Dienerian strata in Tethys.Other shelly fossils also have poorly defined distributions after the extinction,but ostracods show some wider distribution suggesting migration was possible after the extinction.Therefore there is a contrast between the geographic differences of microbialites and some shelly fossils.Determining the cause of geographic variation of post-extinction microbialites is problematic and may include one or more of the following possibilities:1) because calcifying microbial organisms that create calcimicrobes were benthic,they may have lacked planktonic stages that would have allowed migration,2)eastern Tethyan seas were possibly more saturated with respect to calcium carbonates and microbes,so microbes there were possibly more able to calcify,3) significant reduction of Tethyan ocean circulation,perhaps by large-scale upwelling disrupting ocean surface circulation,may have limited lateral migration of benthic microbial communities but did not prevent migration of other organisms,and 4) microbes may have been subject to local environmental controls,the mechanisms of which have not yet been recognized in the facies.The difficulty of distinguishing between these possibilities(and maybe others not identified) demonstrates that there is a lot still to learn about the post-extinction microbialites and their controls.

Coevality of the sea-level fall and main mass extinction in the Permian-Triassic transition in Xiushui, Jiangxi Province, southern China

A continuous Permian-Triassic boundary （PTB） section has been found and studied for the first time in Xiushui, Jiangxi Province, South China. Evidence for a large sealevel fall has been found in the horizon of 0.8 m below the PTB, from the beginning of Hindeodus changxingensis zone （correlatable to Hindeodus typicalis Zone of the Meishan section）. Sedimentary record indicates that the sea level kept at Iowstand, or occasionally rose slowly during the whole Hindeodus parvus zone, except another substantial sea-level fall in early H. parvus zone. It began a quick rise from the beginning of Isarcicella staeschei zone, kept rising for the whole/, staeschei zone, and probably caused the stagnation of sea water. The first severe change in the biota, marked by the sudden disappearance of all steno- tropic organisms such as fusulinids and dasycladacians, happened at the same time as the first sea-level fall, and is regarded as the first and main episode of the end-Permian mass extinction in this area. A microbe-dominated biota followed the first extinction, and spanned the late H. changxingensis zone and the whole H. parvus zone. All the microbes and some other eurytropic organisms including gastropods and ostracods disappeared at the end of the H. parvus zone, and the following biota in the/. staeschei zone is very simple. The coevality of the main sea-level fall and the main extinction episode might be causal： both of them might be caused by a drastic climatic cooling.

The microfacies and sedimentary responses to the mass extinction during the Permian-Triassic transition at Yangou Section, Jiangxi Province, South China

A Permian-Triassic(P-Tr) boundary section of continuous carbonate facies, which well recorded the biotic and environmental processes through the great P-Tr transition in the shallow non-microbialite carbonate facies, has been studied in Yangou, Leping County, Jiangxi Province. The P-Tr sequence is well correlated with the Meishan section according to the conodont biostratigraphy and the excursion of carbon isotopes. A series of high-resolution thin-sections from the P-Tr boundary carbonate rocks at the Yangou section are studied to explore the interrelation between environmental change and biological evolution during the transitional time. Six microfacies have been identified based upon the observation of the thin-sections under a microscope on the grains and matrix and their interrelation. Combined with the data of fossils and carbon isotopes, Microfacies 4(MF-4), coated-grain-bearing foraminifer oolitic sparitic limestone, and Microfacies 6(MF-6), dark shelly micritic limestone, should be the different responses to the two episodes of mass extinction and environmental events that can be correlated throughout South China and even over the world. The oolitic limestone of MF-4 is the first finding from the latest Permian strata in South China and it might be a proxy of an unusual environmental condition of high pCO2, low sulfate concentration and of microbial blooming in the aftermath of the latest Permian mass extinction. The micritic limestone of MF-6 containing rich micro-gastropods and ostracods probably represents the blooming event of disaster taxa in the earliest Triassic environment. The microfacies analysis at the Yangou section can well reveal the episodic process of the biological evolution and environmental change in the shallow non-microbialite carbonate facies throughout the great P-Tr transition, thus the Yangou section becomes an important complement to the Meishan section.

Rapid Carbonate Depositional Changes Following the Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction: Sedimentary Evidence from South China

Various environmental changes were associated with the Permian-Triassic mass extinction at 252.2 Ma. Diverse unusual sediments and depositional phenomena have been uncovered as responses to environmental and biotic changes. Lithological and detailed conodont biostratigraphic correlations within six Permian-Triassic boundary sections in South China indicate rapid fluctuations in carbonate deposition. Four distinct depositional phases can be recognized： （1） normal carbonate deposition on the platform and slope during the latest Permian; （2） reduced carbonate deposition at the on- set of the main extinction horizon; （3） expanded areas of carbonate deposition during the Hindeodus changxingsensis Zone to the H. parvus Zone; and （4） persistent mud-enriched carbonate deposition in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic transition. Although availability of skeletal carbonate was significantly reduced during the mass extinction, the increase in carbonate deposition did not behave the same way. The rapid carbonate depositional changes, presented in this study, suggest that diverse environmental changes played key roles in the carbonate deposition of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and onset of its aftermath. An overview of hypotheses to explain these changes implies enhanced terrestrial input, abnormal ocean circulation and various geobiological processes contributed to carbonate saturation fluctuations, as the sedimentary response to large volcanic eruptions.

Ni-Ir anomaly and fusulinid extinction across the Permian-Triassic boundary in Dongluo, Guangxi

SINCE Alvarez first used iridium anomaly to explain the Cretaceous-Tertiary impact eventand mass extinction, more than 70 sites of iridium-nickel anomalies have been found. The Per-mian-Triassic boundary extinction is more prominent than that of the Cretaceous-Tertiary.This leads us to make research on whether similar events happened during that period.

Carbon isotope excursions across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Meishan section, Zhejiang Province, China

Both gradual and sharp decrease in organic and carbonate carbon isotope values were detected across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Meishan section, Changxing, Zhejiang Province, China. The gradual decrease in organic carbon isotope values started at the bottom of Bed 23, coinciding with the strong oscillations of total organic carbon (TOC) contents, indicates increasing fluxes from carbonate to organic carbon reservoir during this interval. A 2.3‰ sharp drop of inorganic carbon isotope values occurred at the uppermost part of Bed 24e. A 3.7‰ sharp drop of organic carbon isotope values occurred in Bed 26. The dramatic drop of inorganic carbon isotope value of 8‰ reported previously is not confirmed from the unweathered carbonate samples in Bed 27. The large-scale fluctuation of organic carbon isotope values in the Yinkeng Formation reflects different extent of mixing of marine and terrestrial organic matters. The gradual depletion and subsequent sharp drop of carbon isotopes near the

Mass extinction and Pangea integration during the Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition

The greatest Phanerozoic mass extinction happened at the end-Permian to earliest Triassic. About 95% species, 82% genera, and more than half families became extinct, constituting the sole macro-mass extinction in geological history. This event not only caused the great extinction but also destroyed the 200 Myr-long Paleozoic marine ecosystem, prompted its transition to Mesozoic ecosystem, and induced coal gap on land as well as reef gap and chert gap in ocean. The biotic crisis during the Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition was a long process of co-evolution between geospheres and biosphere. The event sequence at the Permian-Triassic boundary （PTB） reveals two-episodic pattern of rapidly deteriorating global changes and biotic mass ex- tinction and the intimate relationship between them. The severe global changes coupling multiple geospheres may have affect- ed the Pangea integration on the Earth＇s surface spheres, which include： the Pangea integration→enhanced mountain height and basin depth, changes of wind and ocean current systems; enhanced ocean basin depth→the greatest Phanerozoic regression at PTB, disappearance of epeiric seas and subsequent rapid transgression; the Pangea integration→thermal isolation effect of continental lithosphere and decrease of mid-ocean ridges→development of continental volcanism; two-episode volcanism causing LIPs of the Emeishan Basalt and the Siberian Trap （25%251 Ma）→global warming and mass extinction; continental aridification and replacement of monsoon system by latitudinal wind system→destruction of vegetation; enhanced weathering and CH4 emission→negative excursion of δ^13C; mantle plume→crust doming→regression; possible relation between the Illawarra magnetic reversal and the PTB extinction, and so on. Mantle plume produced the Late Permian LIPs and mantle convection may have caused the process of the Pangea integration. Subduction, delamination, and accumulation of the earth＇s cool lithospheric material at the ＂D＂ layer of CMB started mantle plume by heat compensation and disturbed the outer core ther- too-convection, and the latter in turn would generate the mid-Permian geomagnetic reversal. These core and mantle perturbations may have caused the Pangea integration and two successive LIPs in the Permian, and probably finally the mass extinction at the PTB.

The large increase of δ^(13)C_(carb)-depth gradient and the end-Permian mass extinction

Carbonate carbon isotope （δ^13Ccarb） has received considerable attention in the Permian-Triassic transition for its rapid negative shift coinciding with the great end-Permian mass extinction event. The mechanism has long been debated for such a c~ δ^13Ccarb negative excursion through the end-Permian crisis and subsequent large perturbations in the entire Early Triassic. A δ^13Ccarb depth gradient is observed at the Permian-Triassic boundary sections of different water-depths, i.e., the Yangou, Meishan, and Shangsi sections, and such a large δ^13Ccarb-depth gradient near the end-Permian mass extinction horizon is believed to result from a stratified Paleotethys Ocean with widespread anoxic/euxinic deep water. The evolution of δ^13Ccarb-depth gradient com- bined with paleontological and geochemical data suggests that abundant cyanobacteria and vigorous biological pump in the immediate aftermath of the end-Permian extinction would be the main cause of the large δ^13Ccarb-depth gradient, and the enhanced continental weathering with the mass extinction on land provides a mass amount of nutriment for the flourishing cyanobacteria. Photic zone anoxia/euxinia from the onset of chemocline upward excursion might be the direct cause for the mass extinction whereas the instability of chemocline in the stratified Early Triassic ocean would be the reason for the delayed and involuted biotic recovery.

Timing of the terrestrial Permian-Triassic boundary biotic crisis:Implications from U-Pb dating of authigenic zircons

The Late Permian to Early Triassic transition represents one of the most important Phanerozoic mass extinction episodes. The cause of this event is still in debate between catastrophic and gradual mechanisms. This study uses the U-Pb method on zircons from the uppermost Permian/lowermost Triassic clay deposits at Chahe (Guizhou Province, SW China) to examine time constraints for this event. The results of both this and previous studies show that the ages of Bed 68a and 68c (the upper clay bed of the terrestrial Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB)) respectively are 252.6±2.8 and 247.5±2.8 Ma. This age (within the margin of error) almost accords with the upper clay bed (Bed 28) age of Meishan and the eruption age of Tunguss Basalt, and is so far the most accurate age obtained from terrestrial PTB. The claystone of Bed 68 was formed in the earliest Triassic. The biotic crisis occurred at nearly the same time in terrestrial and marine environments during Permian-Triassic interval; however the extinction patterns and processes are different. The extinction pattern of the terrestrial plants shows a major decline at the PTB after long-term evolution, followed by a retarded extinction of the relicts in the earliest Triassic.

Progress and review of the studies on the end-Triassic mass extinction event

The mass extinction at the end-Triassic is one of the five biggest in the Phanerozoic. However,it is the least well understood among these five events, and only till last decade it became a great academic interesting subject to geologists. The evidences for this event come obviously from bivalves, brachiopods, ammonites, corals, radiolaria, ostracods and foraminifera of marine habitats, and plants and tetrapods of terrestrial realm. By contrast, for some of other groups, such as marine gastropods and marine vertebrates, no mass extinction has been recog-nized yet. The extinction event is strongly marked at specific level but shown a complicated situa-tion at generic and family levels. Dramatic changing of the environment, such as the temperature raise due to the greenhouse effect, the marine anoxic habitats caused by a sudden transgression after the regression at the end of Triassic, has been claimed to be the main cause of the extinction. Many hypotheses have been suggested to demonstrate the mechanisms of the environment changing, among which two popular ones are the bolide impact and volcanic eruption. The Triassic-Jurassic (Tr-J) boundary mass extinction event is still poorly understood because no enough data have been obtained from the Tr-J boundary successional sections of both marine and terrestrial sediments, and most of these studies were regionally restricted. The basic aspects of the event and its associated environmental conditions remain poorly characterized and the causal mechanism or mechanisms are equivocal. Some authors even doubt its occurrence. China has many successionally developed terrestrial and marine Tr-J sections. Detailed studies of these sections may be important and significant for well understanding of the event.

The shift of biogeochemical cycles indicative of the progressive marine ecosystem collapse across the Permian-Triassic boundary:An analog to modern oceans

Global warming,the most severe faunal mass extinction and the shift of biogeochemical cycles were observed in the ocean across the Permian-Triassic boundary about 252 million years ago,providing an analog to understanding the modern oceans.Along with the progressive global warming,the biogeochemical cycle was documented to show a shift from the decoupled processes of carbon,nitrogen and sulfur prior to the mass extinction to the coupled biogeochemical processes during faunal mass extinction.The coupled biogeochemical cycle was further observed to shift from the coupled C-N processes during the first episode of the faunal mass extinction to the coupled C-N-S processes during the second episode,diagnostic of the progressive development of more deteriorated marine environmental conditions and the more severe biotic crisis across the Permian-Triassic boundary.The biogeochemical cycles could thus be an indication to the progressive collapse of marine ecosystems triggered by the global warming in Earth history.In modern oceans,the coupled C-N cycle triggered by the global warming was observed in some regions.If these local C-N processes develop and expand to the global oceans,the coupled C-N-S processes might be brought into existence and the marine ecosystems are inevitable to suffer from complete collapse as observed at 252 million years ago.

Paleo-redox conditions across the Permian-Triassic boundary in shallow carbonate platform of the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China

Ocean anoxia has been widely implicated in the Permian-Triassic extinction. However, the duration and distribution of the ocean anoxia remains controversial. In this study, the detailed redox changes across the Permian-Triassic boundary （PTB） in the shallow platform interior at Great Bank of Guizhou （GBG） has been reconstructed based on the high-resolution microfossil composition and multiple paleo-redox proxies. The shallow platform is characterized by low sulfur （total sulfur （TS） and pyrite sulfur （Spy）） concentrations, low Spy/TOC ratios, and low DOP values before the mass extinction, representing oxic conditions well. Following the mass extinction, the shift of multiple geochemical proxies, including high Spy/TOC ratios and DOP values, indicates dysoxic-anoxic conditions in shallow ocean. Furthermore, we reconstruct the transition of the redox conditions of Nanpanjiang Basin： the intense volcanic eruptions, which release huge COz and SO2 before the mass extinction, provoke the temperature rising and the collapse of terrestrial ecosystem. As a result, the increased weathering influx causes the carbon iso- topic negative excursion and the expansion of the ocean oxygen minimum zone （OMZ）. When the OMZ expanded into the photic zone, the episodic H2S release events enhance the pyrite burial at Dajiang section. Thus, intense volcanic eruptions, temperature increase, and oceanic hypoxia together lead to the PTB extinction. Recent studies show high temperature might be the key mechanism of the PTB extinction. In addition, this study confirms that the microbialites were formed in the dysoxic- anoxic shallow water.

奥陶纪-志留纪边界附近火山活动记录:来华南周缘钾质斑脱岩的信息

扬子地台内奥陶纪顶部的五峰组到志留纪底部的龙马溪组间存在着多个粘土岩层。前人研究结果认为这些粘土岩层为钾质斑脱岩,是火山喷发的凝灰质物质在海相环境沉积、蚀变的产物。这些斑脱岩广泛分布于扬子地台周缘,对理解奥陶纪-志留纪时华南所处的大地构造位置和相应的构造事件具有重要的意义。本文对采自扬子地台内湖北宜昌地区和贵州桐梓地区奥陶纪-志留纪界线剖面的斑脱岩层进行了矿物学及地球化学工作,旨在判定其形成的构造环境。矿物学研究表明上述岩石除了含有粘土矿物外,还含有石英、长石、黑云母、磷灰石、锆石等中酸性岩浆岩中的常见矿物,属典型的钾质斑脱岩。本文利用在风化过程中不活动元素对斑脱岩的原岩进行了恢复,结果也表明其原岩为中酸性火山岩,包括安山岩-英安岩-及流绞岩等。微量元素特征显示多数样品具有典型的岛弧火山岩的特征,很可能与北面早古生代秦岭洋的闭合过程中的板块俯冲有关,也可能是早古生代在华南板块东南缘外侧存在的一古老洋壳向华南板块的俯冲。有一个样品(YC0711)没有Nb的负异常,但是具有明显的Ti负异常,在Th/Yb-Nb/Yb判别图上落在岛弧区附近,其原岩可能是富铌玄武岩之类的特殊岛弧岩石。火山活动的峰期为晚奥陶世赫南特阶时代,与地质历史上第二大的生物大灭绝事件同时。前人认为该生物灭绝事件与冈瓦纳冰川有关。考虑到华南以及欧洲、北美等地均出现大规模晚奥陶世-早侏罗纪钾质斑脱岩,奥陶纪-志留纪边界的火山事件是具有全球规模的,所喷发的岩石多是富含挥发份的中酸性岩,对大气圈和生物圈具有十分重要的影响,本文认为火山活动很可能是造成晚奥陶世的生物大灭绝事件和冈瓦纳冰川的主要诱导因素。

广西来宾蓬莱滩二叠纪瓜德鲁普统—乐平统界线剖面元素和同位素地球化学研究及地质意义

广西来宾蓬莱滩二叠系瓜德鲁普统-乐平统界线剖面已被国际地质科学联合会确定为国际界线层型标准剖面,在该界面附近发生了一次重要的全球性生物绝灭事件。蓬莱滩剖面样品采自乐平统合山组底部(由硅质岩和透镜状灰岩组成)和瓜德鲁普统茅口组上部来宾灰岩(由硅质灰岩、灰岩和少量硅质岩组成)。它们具有高的SiO2含量(除3个样品低于10%以外,其余样品均大于17%,平均为43.44%)、m值(>50)与Sr/Ba值(>1.0)和低的MgO/CaO(绝大部分低于0.2)与V/(V+Ni)值(<0.46);Ce和Eu亏损明显。这些地球化学特征反映它们是在相对氧化的浅海环境中形成的,硅的来源非常丰富。样品的εNd(t)值(-7.5^-3.3)和(87Sr/86Sr)i值(0.70705~0.70739)都位于全球大洋Nd、Sr同位素演化曲线晚二叠纪时期区域内。有机碳的δ13Corg值变化明显(-26.7‰^-23.2‰),尤其是在瓜德鲁普统与乐平统以及茅口组与合山组界线附近发生显著的负漂移(达3.4‰),而且与无机碳的δ13C值呈现大致平行的变化趋势,证实在该界线附近发生过生物绝灭事件。虽然对瓜德鲁普统—乐平统交替时期发生的生物绝灭事件已提出过包括海平面下降在内的多种假设,但本文认为,由地幔柱上升引起的、以峨嵋山玄武岩喷发为代表的超级火山活动以及由此引起的环境效应是该时期生物绝灭的主要原因。