Nickel isotopes link Siberian Traps aerosol particles to the end-Permian mass extinction

Menghan Li, Stephen E. Grasby, Shui-Jiong Wang, Xiaolin Zhang, Laura E. Wasylenki, Yilun Xu, Mingzhao Sun, Benoit Beauchamp, Dongping Hu and Yanan Shen ()
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Menghan Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Stephen E. Grasby: Natural Resources Canada
Shui-Jiong Wang: China University of Geosciences
Xiaolin Zhang: University of Science and Technology of China
Laura E. Wasylenki: Northern Arizona University
Yilun Xu: University of Science and Technology of China
Mingzhao Sun: ETH Zürich
Benoit Beauchamp: University of Calgary
Dongping Hu: University of Science and Technology of China
Yanan Shen: University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, and the Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is widely hypothesized to have been the primary trigger for the environmental catastrophe. The killing mechanisms depend critically on the nature of volatiles ejected during STLIP eruptions, initiating about 300 kyr before the extinction event, because the atmosphere is the primary interface between magmatism and extinction. Here we report Ni isotopes for Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks from Arctic Canada. The δ60Ni data range from −1.09‰ to 0.35‰, and exhibit the lightest δ60Ni compositions ever reported for sedimentary rocks. Our results provide strong evidence for global dispersion and loading of Ni-rich aerosol particles into the Panthalassic Ocean. Our data demonstrate that environmental degradation had begun well before the extinction event and provide a link between global dispersion of Ni-rich aerosols, ocean chemistry changes, and the EPME.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22066-7

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