Journal article
Climate-forced Hg-remobilization associated with fern mutagenesis in the aftermath of the end-Triassic extinction
- Abstract:
- The long-term effects of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, a large igneous province connected to the end-Triassic mass-extinction (201.5 Ma), remain largely elusive. Here, we document the persistence of volcanic-induced mercury (Hg) pollution and its effects on the biosphere for ~1.3 million years after the extinction event. In sediments recovered in Germany (Schandelah-1 core), we record not only high abundances of malformed fern spores at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, but also during the lower Jurassic Hettangian, indicating repeated vegetation disturbance and stress that was eccentricity-forced. Crucially, these abundances correspond to increases in sedimentary Hg-concentrations. Hg-isotope ratios (δ202Hg, Δ199Hg) suggest a volcanic source of Hg-enrichment at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary but a terrestrial source for the early Jurassic peaks. We conclude that volcanically injected Hg across the extinction was repeatedly remobilized from coastal wetlands and hinterland areas during eccentricity-forced phases of severe hydrological upheaval and erosion, focusing Hg-pollution in the Central European Basin.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 2.5MB, Terms of use)
-
- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/s41467-024-47922-0
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Journal:
- Nature Communications More from this journal
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 1
- Article number:
- 3596
- Publication date:
- 2024-04-27
- Acceptance date:
- 2024-04-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2041-1723
- Language:
-
English
- Pubs id:
-
1989955
- Local pid:
-
pubs:1989955
- Deposit date:
-
2024-04-15
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Bos et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2024
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record