Mercury evidence from southern Pangea terrestrial sections for end-Permian global volcanic effects

Jun Shen (), Jiubin Chen, Jianxin Yu, Thomas J. Algeo, Roger M. H. Smith, Jennifer Botha, Tracy D. Frank, Christopher R. Fielding, Peter D. Ward and Tamsin A. Mather
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Jun Shen: China University of Geosciences
Jiubin Chen: Tianjin University
Jianxin Yu: China University of Geosciences
Thomas J. Algeo: China University of Geosciences
Roger M. H. Smith: University of the Witwatersrand
Jennifer Botha: University of the Witwatersrand
Tracy D. Frank: University of Connecticut
Christopher R. Fielding: University of Connecticut
Peter D. Ward: University of Washington
Tamsin A. Mather: University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) was triggered by magmatism of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (STLIP), which left an extensive record of sedimentary Hg anomalies at Northern Hemisphere and tropical sites. Here, we present Hg records from terrestrial sites in southern Pangea, nearly antipodal to contemporaneous STLIP activity, providing insights into the global distribution of volcanogenic Hg during this event and its environmental processing. These profiles (two from Karoo Basin, South Africa; two from Sydney Basin, Australia) exhibit significant Hg enrichments within the uppermost Permian extinction interval as well as positive Δ199Hg excursions (to ~0.3‰), providing evidence of long-distance atmospheric transfer of volcanogenic Hg. These results demonstrate the far-reaching effects of the Siberian Traps as well as refine stratigraphic placement of the LPME interval in the Karoo Basin at a temporal resolution of ~105 years based on global isochronism of volcanogenic Hg anomalies.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35272-8

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