Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bos, Remco
• Zheng, Wang
• Lindström, Sofie
• Sanei, Hamed
• Waajen, Irene
• Fendley, Isabel M
• Mather, Tamsin A
• Wang, Yang
• Rohovec, Jan
• Navrátil, Tomáš
• Sluijs, Appy
• van de Schootbrugge, Bas

Titel

Climate-forced Hg-remobilization associated with fern mutagenesis in the aftermath of the end-Triassic extinction

Ist Teil von

• Nature communications, 2024-04, Vol.15 (1), p.3596-3596

Ort / Verlag

England: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The long-term effects of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, a large igneous province connected to the end-Triassic mass-extinction (201.5 Ma), remain largely elusive. Here, we document the persistence of volcanic-induced mercury (Hg) pollution and its effects on the biosphere for ~1.3 million years after the extinction event. In sediments recovered in Germany (Schandelah-1 core), we record not only high abundances of malformed fern spores at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, but also during the lower Jurassic Hettangian, indicating repeated vegetation disturbance and stress that was eccentricity-forced. Crucially, these abundances correspond to increases in sedimentary Hg-concentrations. Hg-isotope ratios (δ Hg, Δ Hg) suggest a volcanic source of Hg-enrichment at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary but a terrestrial source for the early Jurassic peaks. We conclude that volcanically injected Hg across the extinction was repeatedly remobilized from coastal wetlands and hinterland areas during eccentricity-forced phases of severe hydrological upheaval and erosion, focusing Hg-pollution in the Central European Basin.