Sustained and intensified lacustrine methane cycling during Early Permian climate warming

Funing Sun, Wenxuan Hu (), Jian Cao, Xiaolin Wang, Zhirong Zhang, Jahandar Ramezani and Shuzhong Shen
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Funing Sun: Nanjing University
Wenxuan Hu: Nanjing University
Jian Cao: Nanjing University
Xiaolin Wang: Nanjing University
Zhirong Zhang: Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, SINOPEC
Jahandar Ramezani: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shuzhong Shen: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Lakes are a major emitter of the atmospheric greenhouse gas methane (CH4); however, their roles in past climate warming episodes remain poorly understood owing to a scarcity of geological records. Here we report the occurrence of sustained and intensified microbial CH4 cycling in paleo-Lake Junggar in northwestern China, one of the largest known Phanerozoic lakes, during Early Permian climate warming. High-precision U-Pb geochronology refines the age of the upper Lucaogou Formation to the Artinskian, which marks a major glacial-to-postglacial climate transition. The 13C-enriched authigenic dolomites indicate active methanogenesis in the anoxic lake sediments, and 13C-depleted hopanes suggest vigorous methanotrophy in the water column. The intensification of CH4 cycling coincided with increasing global temperature, as evidenced from elevated continental chemical weathering. Our results suggest that the lacustrine CH4 emissions acted as a positive feedback to global warming and contributed to the demise of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32438-2

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