Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction

Abstract The second largest Phanerozoic mass extinction occurred at the Ordovician-Silurian (O-S) boundary. However, unlike the other major mass extinction events, the driver for the O-S extinction remains uncertain. The abundance of mercury (Hg) and total organic carbon (TOC) of Ordovician and earl...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Qing Gong, Xiangdong Wang, Laishi Zhao, Stephen E. Grasby, Zhong-Qiang Chen, Lei Zhang, Yang Li, Ling Cao, Zhihong Li
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d92b681762bc46f88861ffb3e77ed648
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:d92b681762bc46f88861ffb3e77ed648
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d92b681762bc46f88861ffb3e77ed6482021-12-02T16:07:46ZMercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction10.1038/s41598-017-05524-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/d92b681762bc46f88861ffb3e77ed6482017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05524-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The second largest Phanerozoic mass extinction occurred at the Ordovician-Silurian (O-S) boundary. However, unlike the other major mass extinction events, the driver for the O-S extinction remains uncertain. The abundance of mercury (Hg) and total organic carbon (TOC) of Ordovician and early Silurian marine sediments were analyzed from four sections (Huanghuachang, Chenjiahe, Wangjiawan and Dingjiapo) in the Yichang area, South China, as a test for evidence of massive volcanism associated with the O-S event. Our results indicate the Hg concentrations generally vary in parallel with TOC, and that the Hg/TOC ratios remain low and steady state through the Early and Middle Ordovician. However, Hg concentrations and the Hg/TOC ratio increased rapidly in the Late Katian, and have a second peak during the Late Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) that was temporally coincident with two main pulses of mass extinction. Hg isotope data display little to no variation associated with the Hg spikes during the extinction intervals, indicating that the observed Hg spikes are from a volcanic source. These results suggest intense volcanism occurred during the Late Ordovician, and as in other Phanerozoic extinctions, likely played an important role in the O-S event.Qing GongXiangdong WangLaishi ZhaoStephen E. GrasbyZhong-Qiang ChenLei ZhangYang LiLing CaoZhihong LiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Qing Gong Xiangdong Wang Laishi Zhao Stephen E. Grasby Zhong-Qiang Chen Lei Zhang Yang Li Ling Cao Zhihong Li Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
description	Abstract The second largest Phanerozoic mass extinction occurred at the Ordovician-Silurian (O-S) boundary. However, unlike the other major mass extinction events, the driver for the O-S extinction remains uncertain. The abundance of mercury (Hg) and total organic carbon (TOC) of Ordovician and early Silurian marine sediments were analyzed from four sections (Huanghuachang, Chenjiahe, Wangjiawan and Dingjiapo) in the Yichang area, South China, as a test for evidence of massive volcanism associated with the O-S event. Our results indicate the Hg concentrations generally vary in parallel with TOC, and that the Hg/TOC ratios remain low and steady state through the Early and Middle Ordovician. However, Hg concentrations and the Hg/TOC ratio increased rapidly in the Late Katian, and have a second peak during the Late Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) that was temporally coincident with two main pulses of mass extinction. Hg isotope data display little to no variation associated with the Hg spikes during the extinction intervals, indicating that the observed Hg spikes are from a volcanic source. These results suggest intense volcanism occurred during the Late Ordovician, and as in other Phanerozoic extinctions, likely played an important role in the O-S event.
format	article
author	Qing Gong Xiangdong Wang Laishi Zhao Stephen E. Grasby Zhong-Qiang Chen Lei Zhang Yang Li Ling Cao Zhihong Li
author_facet	Qing Gong Xiangdong Wang Laishi Zhao Stephen E. Grasby Zhong-Qiang Chen Lei Zhang Yang Li Ling Cao Zhihong Li
author_sort	Qing Gong
title	Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
title_short	Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
title_full	Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
title_fullStr	Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
title_full_unstemmed	Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction
title_sort	mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the ordovician-silurian mass extinction
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/d92b681762bc46f88861ffb3e77ed648
work_keys_str_mv	AT qinggong mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT xiangdongwang mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT laishizhao mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT stephenegrasby mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT zhongqiangchen mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT leizhang mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT yangli mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT lingcao mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction AT zhihongli mercuryspikessuggestvolcanicdriveroftheordoviciansilurianmassextinction
_version_	1718384749030932480

Mercury spikes suggest volcanic driver of the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction

Ejemplares similares