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The Capitanian (Guadalupian, Middle Permian) mass extinction in NW Pangea (Borup Fiord, Arctic Canada): A global crisis driven by volcanism and anoxia

Bond, David P.G.; Wignall, Paul B.; Grasby, Stephen E.

Authors

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David Bond D.Bond@hull.ac.uk
Palaeoenvironmental Scientist and Schools Liason Officer

Paul B. Wignall

Stephen E. Grasby



Abstract

Until recently, the biotic crisis that occurred within the Capitanian Stage (Middle Permian, ca. 262 Ma) was known only from equatorial (Tethyan) latitudes, and its global extent was poorly resolved. The discovery of a Boreal Capitanian crisis in Spitsbergen, with losses of similar magnitude to those in low latitudes, indicated that the event was geographically widespread, but further non-Tethyan records are needed to confirm this as a true mass extinction. The cause of this crisis is similarly controversial: While the temporal coincidence of the extinction and the onset of volcanism in the Emeishan large igneous province in China provides a clear link between those phenomena, the proximal kill mechanism is unclear. Here, we present an integrated fossil, pyrite framboid, and geochemical study of the Middle to Late Permian section of the Sverdrup Basin at Borup Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada. As in Spitsbergen, the Capitanian extinction is recorded by brachiopods in a chert/limestone succession 30-40 m below the Permian-Triassic boundary. The extinction level shows elevated concentrations of redox-sensitive trace metals (Mo, V, U, Mn), and contemporary pyrite framboid populations are dominated by small individuals, suggestive of a causal role for anoxia in the wider Boreal crisis. Mercury concentrations-a proxy for volcanism-are generally low throughout the succession but are elevated at the extinction level, and this spike withstands normalization to total organic carbon, total sulfur, and aluminum. We suggest this is the smoking gun of eruptions in the distant Emeishan large igneous province, which drove high-latitude anoxia via global warming. Although the global Capitanian extinction might have had different regional mechanisms, like the more famous extinction at the end of the Permian, each had its roots in large igneous province volcanism.

Citation

Bond, D. P., Wignall, P. B., & Grasby, S. E. (2020). The Capitanian (Guadalupian, Middle Permian) mass extinction in NW Pangea (Borup Fiord, Arctic Canada): A global crisis driven by volcanism and anoxia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 132(5-6), 931-942. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35281.1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 20, 2019
Online Publication Date Aug 30, 2019
Publication Date May 1, 2020
Deposit Date Mar 24, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Bulletin of the Geological Society of America
Print ISSN 0016-7606
Electronic ISSN 1943-2674
Publisher Geological Society of America
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 132
Issue 5-6
Pages 931-942
DOI https://doi.org/10.1130/B35281.1
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3565097

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Copyright Statement
© 2019 The Authors.
Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license.





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