Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO2 during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Yuyang Wu; Daoliang Chu; Jinnan Tong; Haijun Song; Jacopo Dal Corso; Paul B. Wignall; Huyue Song; Yong Du; Ying Cui

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22298-7

Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO₂ during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Yuyang Wu, Daoliang Chu, Jinnan Tong, Haijun Song, Jacopo Dal Corso, Paul B. Wignall, Huyue Song, Yong Du, Ying Cui

Earth and Environmental Studies

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47 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Permian–Triassic mass extinction was marked by a massive release of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, evidenced by a sharp negative carbon isotope excursion. Large carbon emissions would have increased atmospheric pCO₂ and caused global warming. However, the magnitude of pCO₂ changes during the PTME has not yet been estimated. Here, we present a continuous pCO₂ record across the PTME reconstructed from high-resolution δ¹³C of C₃ plants from southwestern China. We show that pCO₂ increased from 426 +133/−96 ppmv in the latest Permian to 2507 +4764/−1193 ppmv at the PTME within about 75 kyr, and that the reconstructed pCO₂ significantly correlates with sea surface temperatures. Mass balance modelling suggests that volcanic CO₂ is probably not the only trigger of the carbon cycle perturbation, and that large quantities of ¹³C-depleted carbon emission from organic matter and methane were likely required during complex interactions with the Siberian Traps volcanism.

Original language	English
Article number	2137
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22298-7
State	Published - Dec 2021

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title = "Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO2 during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction",

abstract = "The Permian–Triassic mass extinction was marked by a massive release of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, evidenced by a sharp negative carbon isotope excursion. Large carbon emissions would have increased atmospheric pCO2 and caused global warming. However, the magnitude of pCO2 changes during the PTME has not yet been estimated. Here, we present a continuous pCO2 record across the PTME reconstructed from high-resolution δ13C of C3 plants from southwestern China. We show that pCO2 increased from 426 +133/−96 ppmv in the latest Permian to 2507 +4764/−1193 ppmv at the PTME within about 75 kyr, and that the reconstructed pCO2 significantly correlates with sea surface temperatures. Mass balance modelling suggests that volcanic CO2 is probably not the only trigger of the carbon cycle perturbation, and that large quantities of 13C-depleted carbon emission from organic matter and methane were likely required during complex interactions with the Siberian Traps volcanism.",

author = "Yuyang Wu and Daoliang Chu and Jinnan Tong and Haijun Song and {Dal Corso}, Jacopo and Wignall, {Paul B.} and Huyue Song and Yong Du and Ying Cui",

note = "Funding Information: Many thanks to Linhao Fang for the help of sample treatment method. We thank Wenchao Shu and Yao Wang for sample treatment. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42030513, 41821001, 41530104, 42072025, 41888101), the US National Science Foundation grant no. EAR-1603051 and EAR-2026877, and also benefited from Natural Environment Research Council (UK) grant, {\textquoteleft}Ecosystem resilience and recovery from the Permo-Triassic crisis{\textquoteright} (grant NE/P013724/1), which is a part of the Biosphere Evolution, Transitions and Resilience (BETR) Program. This is Center for Computational & Modeling Geosciences (BGEG) publication number 2. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

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AU - Wu, Yuyang

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AU - Tong, Jinnan

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AU - Dal Corso, Jacopo

AU - Wignall, Paul B.

AU - Song, Huyue

AU - Du, Yong

AU - Cui, Ying

N1 - Funding Information: Many thanks to Linhao Fang for the help of sample treatment method. We thank Wenchao Shu and Yao Wang for sample treatment. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42030513, 41821001, 41530104, 42072025, 41888101), the US National Science Foundation grant no. EAR-1603051 and EAR-2026877, and also benefited from Natural Environment Research Council (UK) grant, ‘Ecosystem resilience and recovery from the Permo-Triassic crisis’ (grant NE/P013724/1), which is a part of the Biosphere Evolution, Transitions and Resilience (BETR) Program. This is Center for Computational & Modeling Geosciences (BGEG) publication number 2. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/12

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N2 - The Permian–Triassic mass extinction was marked by a massive release of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, evidenced by a sharp negative carbon isotope excursion. Large carbon emissions would have increased atmospheric pCO2 and caused global warming. However, the magnitude of pCO2 changes during the PTME has not yet been estimated. Here, we present a continuous pCO2 record across the PTME reconstructed from high-resolution δ13C of C3 plants from southwestern China. We show that pCO2 increased from 426 +133/−96 ppmv in the latest Permian to 2507 +4764/−1193 ppmv at the PTME within about 75 kyr, and that the reconstructed pCO2 significantly correlates with sea surface temperatures. Mass balance modelling suggests that volcanic CO2 is probably not the only trigger of the carbon cycle perturbation, and that large quantities of 13C-depleted carbon emission from organic matter and methane were likely required during complex interactions with the Siberian Traps volcanism.

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Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO₂ during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

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