Initial pulse of Siberian Traps sills as the trigger of the end-Permian mass extinction

S. D. Burgess; J. D. Muirhead; S. A. Bowring

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00083-9

journal article Open Access Jul 31, 2017

Initial pulse of Siberian Traps sills as the trigger of the end-Permian mass extinction

S. D. Burgess J. D. Muirhead S. A. Bowring

Nature Communications Vol. 8 No. 1 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1038/s41467-017-00083-9

Abstract

AbstractMass extinction events are short-lived and characterized by catastrophic biosphere collapse and subsequent reorganization. Their abrupt nature necessitates a similarly short-lived trigger, and large igneous province magmatism is often implicated. However, large igneous provinces are long-lived compared to mass extinctions. Therefore, if large igneous provinces are an effective trigger, a subinterval of magmatism must be responsible for driving deleterious environmental effects. The onset of Earth’s most severe extinction, the end-Permian, coincided with an abrupt change in the emplacement style of the contemporaneous Siberian Traps large igneous province, from dominantly flood lavas to sill intrusions. Here we identify the initial emplacement pulse of laterally extensive sills as the critical deadly interval. Heat from these sills exposed untapped volatile-fertile sediments to contact metamorphism, likely liberating the massive greenhouse gas volumes needed to drive extinction. These observations suggest that large igneous provinces characterized by sill complexes are more likely to trigger catastrophic global environmental change than their flood basalt- and/or dike-dominated counterparts.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

38

[1]

Ernst, R. E. Large Igneous Provinces 653 (Cambridge University Press, 2014). 10.1017/cbo9781139025300

[2]

Kidder, D. L. & Worsley, T. R. Phanerozoic large igneous provinces (LIPs), HEATT (Haline Euxinic Acidic Thermal Transgression) episodes, and mass extinctions. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 295, 162–191 (2010). 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.036

[3]

Ernst, R. E. & Youbi, N. How large igneous provinces affect global climate, sometimes cause mass extinctions, and represent natural markers in the geological record. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 478, 30–52 (2017). 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.03.014

[4]

Burgess, S. D. & Bowring, S. A. High-precision geochronology confirms voluminous magmatism before, during, and after Earth’s most severe extinction. Sci. Adv. 1, e1500470 (2015). 10.1126/sciadv.1500470

[5]

Becker, L. et al. Impact event at the Permian-Triassic boundary: evidence from extraterrestrial noble gases in fullerenes. Science 291, 1530–1533 (2001). 10.1126/science.1057243

[6]

Kamo et al. Rapid eruption of Siberian food-volcanic rocks and evidence for coincidence with the Permian-Triassic boundary and mass extinction at 251 Ma. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 214, 75–91 (2003). 10.1016/s0012-821x(03)00347-9

[7]

Reichow et al. The timing and extent of the eruption of the Siberian Traps large igneous province: implications for the end-Permian environmental crisis. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 277, 9–20 (2009). 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.09.030

[8]

Burgess, S. D., Bowring, S. A. & Shen, S.-Z. High-precision timeline for Earth’s most severe extinction. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 111, 3316–3321 (2014). 10.1073/pnas.1317692111

[9]

Payne, J. L. Large perturbations of the carbon cycle during recovery from the end-permian extinction. Science 305, 506–509 (2004). 10.1126/science.1097023

[10]

Sun, Y. et al. Lethally hot temperatures during the early triassic greenhouse. Science 338, 366–370 (2012). 10.1126/science.1224126

[11]

Paleophysiology and end-Permian mass extinction

Andrew H. Knoll, Richard K. Bambach, Jonathan L. Payne et al.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2007 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.02.018

[12]

Svensen, H. et al. Siberian gas venting and the end-Permian environmental crisis. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 277, 490–500 (2009). 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.11.015

[13]

Jones, M. T., Jerram, D. A., Svensen, H. H. & Grove, C. The effects of large igneous provinces on the global carbon and sulphur cycles. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 441, 4–21 (2016). 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.06.042

[14]

Sobolev, S. V. et al. Linking mantle plumes, large igneous provinces and environmental catastrophes. Nature 477, 312–316 (2011). 10.1038/nature10385

[15]

Burgess, S. D., Bowring, S. A., Fleming, T. H. & Elliot, D. H. High-precision geochronology links the Ferrar large igneous province with early-Jurassic ocean anoxia and biotic crisis. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 415, 90–99 (2015). 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.01.037

[16]

Renne, P. R. et al. Time scales of critical events around the cretaceous-paleogene boundary. Science 339, 684–687 (2013). 10.1126/science.1230492

[17]

Blackburn, T. J. et al. Zircon U-Pb geochronology links the end-triassic extinction with the central atlantic magmatic province. Science 340, 941–945 (2013). 10.1126/science.1234204

[18]

Wu, H. et al. Time-calibrated Milankovitch cycles for the late Permian. Nat. Commun. 4, 2452 (2013). 10.1038/ncomms3452

[19]

Schoene, B. et al. U-Pb geochronology of the Deccan Traps and relation to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Science 347, 182–184 (2015). 10.1126/science.aaa0118

[20]

Stothers, R. B. Flood basalts and extinction events. Geophys. Res. Lett. 20, 1399–1402 (1993). 10.1029/93gl01381

[21]

On the causes of mass extinctions

David P.G. Bond, Stephen E. Grasby

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2017 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.005

[22]

Grasby, S. E. et al. Progressive environmental deterioration in northwestern Pangea leading to the latest Permian extinction. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull 127, 1331–1347 (2015). 10.1130/b31197.1

[23]

Shen, S. Z. et al. Calibrating the end-Permian mass extinction. Science 334, 1367–1372 (2011). 10.1126/science.1213454

[24]

Self, S., Widdowson, M., Thordarson, T. & Jay, A. E. Volatile fluxes during flood basalt eruptions and potential effects on the global environment: a Deccan perspective. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 248, 518–532 (2006). 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.05.041

[25]

Stordal, F., Svensen, H. H., Aarnes, I. & Roscher, M. Global temperature response to century-scale degassing from the Siberian Traps large igneous province. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 471, 96–107 (2017). 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.045

[26]

Pinel, V. & Jaupart, C. The effect of edifice load on magma ascent beneath a volcano. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 358, 1515–1532 (2000). 10.1098/rsta.2000.0601

[27]

Menand, T., Daniels, K. A. & Benghiat, P. Dyke propagation and sill formation in a compressive tectonic environment. J. Geophys. Res. 115, B08201 (2010). 10.1029/2009jb006791

[28]

Parsons, T. & Thompson, G. A. The role of magma overpressure in suppressing earthquakes and topography: worldwide examples. Science 253, 1399–1402 (1991). 10.1126/science.253.5026.1399

[29]

Kavanagh, J. L., Menand, T. & Sparks, R. S. J. An experimental investigation of sill formation and propagation in layered elastic media. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 245, 799–813 (2006). 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.03.025

[30]

Ernst, R. E. & Buchan, K. L. The use of mafic dike swarms in identifying and locating mantle plumes. GSA Special Paper 352, 247–265 (2001).

[31]

Ganino, C. & Arndt, N. T. Climate changes caused by degassing of sediments during the emplacement of large igneous provinces. Geology 37, 323–326 (2009). 10.1130/g25325a.1

[32]

Aarnes, I., Fristad, K., Planke, S. & Svensen, H. The impact of host-rock composition on devolitilization of sedimentary rock during contact metamorphism around mafic sheet intrusions. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12, Q10019 (2011). 10.1029/2011gc003636

[33]

White, R. V. & Saunders, A. D. Volcanism, impact and mass extinctions: incredible or credible coincidences? Lithos 79, 299–316 (2005). 10.1016/j.lithos.2004.09.016

[34]

Renne et al. State shift in Deccan volcanism at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, possibly induced by impact. Science 350, 76–78 (2017). 10.1126/science.aac7549

[35]

Petersen, S. V., Dutton, A. & Lohmann, K. C. End-Cretaceous extinction in Antarctica linked to both Deccan volcanism and meteorite impact via climate change. Nat. Commun. 7, 12079 (2016). 10.1038/ncomms12079

[36]

Schoene, B., Guex, J., Bartolini, A., Schaltegger, U. & Blackburn, T. J. Correlating the end-Triassic mass extinction and flood basalt volcanism at the 100 ka level. Geology 38, 387–390 (2010). 10.1130/g30683.1

[37]

Svensen, H., Corfu, F., Polteau, S., Hammer, Ø. & Planke, S. Rapid magma emplacement in the Karoo Large Igneous Province. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 325–326, 1–9 (2012). 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.015

[38]

Cao et al. Biogeochemical evidence for euxinic oceans and ecological disturbance presaging the end-Permian mass extinction event. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 281, 188–201 (2009). 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.02.012

Cited By

329

Geochemistry of the Miankuhi Formation shales in northeastern Iran: implications for the Cimmerian orogeny and the closure of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean

Mahnaz Keshmiri, Mohammad Khanehbad · 2026

International Geology Review

The Anatomy and Lethality of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province

Seth D. Burgess, Benjamin A. Black · 2025

Annual Review of Earth and Planetar...

Late Permian ∼ 6 My cooling induced by basaltic weathering of the Emeishan large igneous province: Evidence from interbasaltic paleosols

Zheng Gong, Maochao Zhang · 2023

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,...

Catastrophic event sequences across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the ocean and on land

Zhong-Qiang Chen, David A.T. Harper · 2022

Global and Planetary Change

Oceanic redox evolution across the end-Permian mass extinction at Penglaitan section, South China

Lei Xiang, Shane D. Schoepfer · 2022

Palaeoworld

Continental flood basalts drive Phanerozoic extinctions

Theodore Green, Paul R. Renne · 2022

Proceedings of the National Academy...

Lethal microbial blooms delayed freshwater ecosystem recovery following the end-Permian extinction

Chris Mays, Stephen McLoughlin · 2021

Nature Communications

Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO2 during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Yuyang Wu, Daoliang Chu · 2021

Nature Communications

Halogen Enrichment of Siberian Traps Magmas During Interaction With Evaporites

Svetlana Sibik, Marie Edmonds · 2021

Frontiers in Earth Science

A nutrient control on marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction

Martin Schobben, William J. Foster · 2020

Nature Geoscience

A high-resolution Middle to Late Permian paleotemperature curve reconstructed using oxygen isotopes of well-preserved brachiopod shells

Wen-Qian Wang, Claudio Garbelli · 2020

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Siberian Trap volcanism, global warming and the Permian-Triassic mass extinction: New insights from Armenian Permian-Triassic sections

M.M. Joachimski, A.S. Alekseev · 2019

Geological Society of America Bulle...

Metrics

329

Citations

38

References

Details

Published: Jul 31, 2017
Vol/Issue: 8(1)
License: View

Authors

Cite This Article

S. D. Burgess, J. D. Muirhead, S. A. Bowring (2017). Initial pulse of Siberian Traps sills as the trigger of the end-Permian mass extinction. Nature Communications, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00083-9

Initial pulse of Siberian Traps sills as the trigger of the end-Permian mass extinction

You May Also Like