Massive and rapid predominantly volcanic CO2 emission during the end-Permian mass extinction

Ying Cui; Mingsong Li; Elsbeth E van Soelen; Francien Peterse; Wolfram M Kürschner

doi:10.1073/pnas.2014701118

Massive and rapid predominantly volcanic CO₂ emission during the end-Permian mass extinction

Ying Cui, Mingsong Li, Elsbeth E van Soelen, Francien Peterse, Wolfram M Kürschner

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The end-Permian mass extinction event (∼252 Mya) is associated with one of the largest global carbon cycle perturbations in the Phanerozoic and is thought to be triggered by the Siberian Traps volcanism. Sizable carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) have been found at numerous sites around the world, suggesting massive quantities of 13C-depleted CO2 input into the ocean and atmosphere system. The exact magnitude and cause of the CIEs, the pace of CO2 emission, and the total quantity of CO2, however, remain poorly known. Here, we quantify the CO2 emission in an Earth system model based on new compound-specific carbon isotope records from the Finnmark Platform and an astronomically tuned age model. By quantitatively comparing the modeled surface ocean pH and boron isotope pH proxy, a massive (∼36,000 Gt C) and rapid emission (∼5 Gt C yr-1) of largely volcanic CO2 source (∼-15%) is necessary to drive the observed pattern of CIE, the abrupt decline in surface ocean pH, and the extreme global temperature increase. This suggests that the massive amount of greenhouse gases may have pushed the Earth system toward a critical tipping point, beyond which extreme changes in ocean pH and temperature led to irreversible mass extinction. The comparatively amplified CIE observed in higher plant leaf waxes suggests that the surface waters of the Finnmark Platform were likely out of equilibrium with the initial massive centennial-scale release of carbon from the massive Siberian Traps volcanism, supporting the rapidity of carbon injection. Our modeling work reveals that carbon emission pulses are accompanied by organic carbon burial, facilitated by widespread ocean anoxia.

Original language	English
Article number	e2014701118
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	118
Issue number	37
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014701118
Publication status	Published - 14 Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. M?rk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim.

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. Mørk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Keywords

CO2
Compound specific carbon isotopes
Earth system model
End-Permian mass extinction

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10.1073/pnas.2014701118Licence: CC BY

e2014701118.fullFinal published version, 1.34 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Massive and rapid predominantly volcanic CO2 emission during the end-Permian mass extinction",

abstract = "The end-Permian mass extinction event (∼252 Mya) is associated with one of the largest global carbon cycle perturbations in the Phanerozoic and is thought to be triggered by the Siberian Traps volcanism. Sizable carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) have been found at numerous sites around the world, suggesting massive quantities of 13C-depleted CO2 input into the ocean and atmosphere system. The exact magnitude and cause of the CIEs, the pace of CO2 emission, and the total quantity of CO2, however, remain poorly known. Here, we quantify the CO2 emission in an Earth system model based on new compound-specific carbon isotope records from the Finnmark Platform and an astronomically tuned age model. By quantitatively comparing the modeled surface ocean pH and boron isotope pH proxy, a massive (∼36,000 Gt C) and rapid emission (∼5 Gt C yr-1) of largely volcanic CO2 source (∼-15%) is necessary to drive the observed pattern of CIE, the abrupt decline in surface ocean pH, and the extreme global temperature increase. This suggests that the massive amount of greenhouse gases may have pushed the Earth system toward a critical tipping point, beyond which extreme changes in ocean pH and temperature led to irreversible mass extinction. The comparatively amplified CIE observed in higher plant leaf waxes suggests that the surface waters of the Finnmark Platform were likely out of equilibrium with the initial massive centennial-scale release of carbon from the massive Siberian Traps volcanism, supporting the rapidity of carbon injection. Our modeling work reveals that carbon emission pulses are accompanied by organic carbon burial, facilitated by widespread ocean anoxia.",

keywords = "CO2, Compound specific carbon isotopes, Earth system model, End-Permian mass extinction",

author = "Ying Cui and Mingsong Li and {van Soelen}, {Elsbeth E} and Francien Peterse and K{\"u}rschner, {Wolfram M}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. M?rk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim. Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. M{\o}rk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1073/pnas.2014701118",

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T1 - Massive and rapid predominantly volcanic CO2 emission during the end-Permian mass extinction

AU - Cui, Ying

AU - Li, Mingsong

AU - van Soelen, Elsbeth E

AU - Peterse, Francien

AU - Kürschner, Wolfram M

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. M?rk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim. Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Project 234005) to W.M.K., the US NSF (Grant 2026877) to Y.C., and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 42072040) to M.L. We thank K. Nierop, D. Kasjaniuk, and A. van Leeuwen-Tolboom at Utrecht University and K. Backer Owe at the University of Oslo for technical support with the lab work. We also thank A. Mørk for help with sampling and L. Kump for discussions. Y.C. thanks A. Ridgwell for providing access to the University of California, Riverside domino cluster and Y. Wu for setting up the spin-ups. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Core material is stored and provided by SINTEF Petroleum Research in Trondheim. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/9/14

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N2 - The end-Permian mass extinction event (∼252 Mya) is associated with one of the largest global carbon cycle perturbations in the Phanerozoic and is thought to be triggered by the Siberian Traps volcanism. Sizable carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) have been found at numerous sites around the world, suggesting massive quantities of 13C-depleted CO2 input into the ocean and atmosphere system. The exact magnitude and cause of the CIEs, the pace of CO2 emission, and the total quantity of CO2, however, remain poorly known. Here, we quantify the CO2 emission in an Earth system model based on new compound-specific carbon isotope records from the Finnmark Platform and an astronomically tuned age model. By quantitatively comparing the modeled surface ocean pH and boron isotope pH proxy, a massive (∼36,000 Gt C) and rapid emission (∼5 Gt C yr-1) of largely volcanic CO2 source (∼-15%) is necessary to drive the observed pattern of CIE, the abrupt decline in surface ocean pH, and the extreme global temperature increase. This suggests that the massive amount of greenhouse gases may have pushed the Earth system toward a critical tipping point, beyond which extreme changes in ocean pH and temperature led to irreversible mass extinction. The comparatively amplified CIE observed in higher plant leaf waxes suggests that the surface waters of the Finnmark Platform were likely out of equilibrium with the initial massive centennial-scale release of carbon from the massive Siberian Traps volcanism, supporting the rapidity of carbon injection. Our modeling work reveals that carbon emission pulses are accompanied by organic carbon burial, facilitated by widespread ocean anoxia.

AB - The end-Permian mass extinction event (∼252 Mya) is associated with one of the largest global carbon cycle perturbations in the Phanerozoic and is thought to be triggered by the Siberian Traps volcanism. Sizable carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) have been found at numerous sites around the world, suggesting massive quantities of 13C-depleted CO2 input into the ocean and atmosphere system. The exact magnitude and cause of the CIEs, the pace of CO2 emission, and the total quantity of CO2, however, remain poorly known. Here, we quantify the CO2 emission in an Earth system model based on new compound-specific carbon isotope records from the Finnmark Platform and an astronomically tuned age model. By quantitatively comparing the modeled surface ocean pH and boron isotope pH proxy, a massive (∼36,000 Gt C) and rapid emission (∼5 Gt C yr-1) of largely volcanic CO2 source (∼-15%) is necessary to drive the observed pattern of CIE, the abrupt decline in surface ocean pH, and the extreme global temperature increase. This suggests that the massive amount of greenhouse gases may have pushed the Earth system toward a critical tipping point, beyond which extreme changes in ocean pH and temperature led to irreversible mass extinction. The comparatively amplified CIE observed in higher plant leaf waxes suggests that the surface waters of the Finnmark Platform were likely out of equilibrium with the initial massive centennial-scale release of carbon from the massive Siberian Traps volcanism, supporting the rapidity of carbon injection. Our modeling work reveals that carbon emission pulses are accompanied by organic carbon burial, facilitated by widespread ocean anoxia.

KW - CO2

KW - Compound specific carbon isotopes

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