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Hydrogen sulphide poisoning of shallow seas following the end-Triassic extinction

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 662–667 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The evolution of complex life over the past 600 million years was disrupted by at least five mass extinctions, one of which occurred at the close of the Triassic period. The end-Triassic extinction corresponds to a period of high atmospheric-CO2 concentrations caused by massive volcanism and biomass burning; most extinction scenarios invoke the resulting environmental perturbations in accounting for the loss of marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Here we reconstruct changes in Tethyan shallow marine ecosystems and ocean redox chemistry from earliest Jurassic (Hettangian)-aged black shales from Germany and Luxemburg. The shales contain increased concentrations of the biomarker isorenieratane, a fossilized pigment from green sulphur bacteria. The abundance of green sulphur bacteria suggests that the photic zone underwent prolonged periods of high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide. This interval is also marked by the proliferation of green algae, an indicator of anoxia. We conclude that the redox changes in the entire water column reflect sluggish circulation in marginal regions of the Tethys Ocean. We suggest that the resultant repeated poisoning of shallow epicontinental seas—hotspots of Mesozoic biodiversity—with hydrogen sulphide may have slowed the recovery of marine ecosystems during the Early Jurassic.

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Figure 1: Palaeogeography and location of the sites studied and mentioned in the text.
Figure 2: Overview of main lithological, biostratigraphical and geochemical data for Mariental and Rosswinkel.
Figure 3: Distributions of marine palynomorphs along a north-to-south transect across the European epicontinental seaway.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Benbrahim (Geological Survey of Luxemburg) for providing access to the Rosswinkel FR 204-201 core. We appreciate the help of C. Christ and Y. Weber (both at the Goethe University Frankfurt) with the analysis and quantification of biomarkers of the Mariental and Rosswinkel cores. M. Baas (NIOZ) is thanked for organic geochemical analyses of additional samples. S.R., B.v.d.S. and J.P. acknowledge financial support through the Goethe University Frankfurt. J.P. acknowledges support through the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Frankfurt (BIK-F). B.v.d.S. acknowledges financial support through the German Science Foundation (DFG SCHO 1216-5/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60,438 Frankfurt am Main, Altenhöferallee 1, Germany

    Sylvain Richoz, Bas van de Schootbrugge, Jörg Pross & Jens Fiebig

  2. Commission for the Paleontological and Stratigraphical Research in Austria, Austrian Academy of Science, c/o Institute for Earth Sciences, University of Graz, Heinrichstraße 26, 8020 Graz, Austria

    Sylvain Richoz

  3. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Jörg Pross

  4. Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Wilhelm Püttmann

  5. Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University, 105 Noble Research Center, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074, USA

    Tracy M. Quan

  6. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark

    Sofie Lindström

  7. State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany

    Carmen Heunisch

  8. Geological Survey of Luxemburg, 23 rue du Chemin de Fer, L-8057 Bertrange, Luxemburg

    Robert Maquil

  9. NIOZ (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), Landsdiep 4, 1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel), The Netherlands

    Stefan Schouten

  10. Institute for Earth Sciences, University of Graz, Heinrichstraße 26, 8020 Graz, Austria

    Christoph A. Hauzenberger

  11. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

    Paul B. Wignall

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  1. Sylvain Richoz
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Contributions

S.R., B.v.d.S. and J.P. designed and carried out the research and wrote the paper. W.P. and S.S. carried out organic geochemical analyses and assisted with the interpretation. B.v.d.S. and C.H. generated the palynological data from Rosswinkel and Mariental. S.L. and J.P. assisted with the interpretation of the data. T.M.Q. was responsible for analysing the nitrogen isotopes and the interpretation. C.A.H. and S.R. produced the trace-element data. R.M. was responsible for drilling the Rosswinkel FR204-201 core and helped with the facies interpretation. J.P., J.F. and P.B.W. contributed to the palaeoecological, biostratigraphic and isotopic interpretations. All authors contributed to the text.

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Correspondence to Bas van de Schootbrugge.

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Richoz, S., van de Schootbrugge, B., Pross, J. et al. Hydrogen sulphide poisoning of shallow seas following the end-Triassic extinction. Nature Geosci 5, 662–667 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1539

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