Collaborative Research: Quantifying the carbon emission and sequestration rate after a large CO2 pulse from the Siberian Traps volcanism

The end-Permian mass extinction event (EPME) resulted in the loss of more than 90% of marine and 70% of land species. During the EPME (252 million years ago), one of the largest known volcanic events, the Siberian Trap (ST) volcanism, occurred and released massive quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The impact of this volcanic event on the EPME and the subsequent recovery of life remains poorly understood. Therefore, it is critical to develop a better understanding of the dynamic climate and biogeochemistry of the end-Permian Earth. This project will use Earth system modeling to explore the CO2 emission rates from ST volcanism, weathering and the long-term buildup of greenhouse gases in the Early Triassic. This project will include the training of underrepresented students at Montclair State University and develop summer outreach programs to educate the general public at Yale University. New knowledge from this research will be integrated into educational and outreach activities.

To better understand the mechanisms of the EPME and subsequent recovery, the project aims to produce new tropical ocean lithium and boron isotopic records spanning the one million year interval across the EPME and to improve quantitative understanding of the extent to which boron isotopes reflect pH changes and lithium isotopes reflect weathering intensity. These geochemical proxies will provide new insights into carbon emission and sequestration rates following the large pulse of CO2 emission associated with ST volcanism. The project will increase understanding of tropical paleoclimate history, including the role of extreme carbon emission and sequestration on the fate of ecosystem demise and recovery. The project team will also develop new modeling tools needed to produce reliable quantitative biogeochemical records spanning the EPME for model-data comparison.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.