Sulfidic anoxia in the oceans during the Late Ordovician mass extinctions – insights from molybdenum and uranium isotopic global redox proxies

Dahl, Tais W.; Hammarlund, Emma U.; Rasmussen, Christian Mac Ørum; Bond, David P.G.; Canfield, Donald E.

Abstract

The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction wiped out 85% of animal species in two phases (LOME1 and LOME2). The kill mechanisms for the extinction phases are debated, but deteriorating climate and the expansion of marine anoxia appear to have been important factors. Nevertheless, the spatial extent and intensity of marine anoxia and its temporal relationship with the extinctions are not well understood. Here, we review existing global paleoredox proxy data based on molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) isotopes from four paleocontinents combined with new Mo isotope data from Dob's Linn, Scotland. Individually, these sedimentary records demonstrate significant redox fluctuations, but our coupled dynamic oceanic mass balance model for the evolution of the marine Mo and U cycles reveals that globally expansive ocean anoxia is best constrained by δ238U in carbonates from Anticosti Island that record expansive anoxia during LOME2. In addition, we consider periodic sulfidic anoxia developing in well-ventilated parts of the shallow oceans (e.g. during warmer periods with greater solar insolation) to have produced temporarily high seawater δ98Mo values during LOME1 in accordance with trends to high values observed in the sedimentary records. In this view, oceanic oxygen loss had a causal role during both extinction phases in the Late Ordovician.

Citation

Dahl, T. W., Hammarlund, E. U., Rasmussen, C. M. Ø., Bond, D. P., & Canfield, D. E. (2021). Sulfidic anoxia in the oceans during the Late Ordovician mass extinctions – insights from molybdenum and uranium isotopic global redox proxies. Earth-Science Reviews, 220, Article 103748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103748

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 20, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 24, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 23, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 19, 2021
• Journal: Earth-Science Reviews
• Print ISSN: 0012-8252
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 220
• Article Number: 103748
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103748
• Keywords: Paleoenvironment; Geochemistry; Global redox proxies; Hirnantian; Stable isotope fractionation
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3809135