Methanogenic burst in the end-Permian carbon cycle
Open accessAbstract
The end-Permian extinction is associated with a mysterious disruption to Earth's carbon cycle. Here we identify causal mechanisms via three observations. First, we show that geochemical signals indicate superexponential growth of the marine inorganic carbon reservoir, coincident with the extinction and consistent with the expansion of a new microbial metabolic pathway. Second, we show that the efficient acetoclastic pathway in Methanosarcina emerged at a time statistically indistinguishable from the extinction. Finally, we show that nickel concentrations in South China sediments increased sharply at the extinction, probably as a consequence of massive Siberian volcanism, enabling a methanogenic expansion by removal of nickel limitation. Collectively, these results are consistent with the instigation of Earth's greatest mass extinction by a specific microbial innovation.
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High Ni and Co values in Late Permian pyrites support the assertion that Ni and Co may be associated with Siberian traps volcanism and the Permian mass extinction.
“An observation that supports this assertion is the high Ni and Co values observed in pyrites in the Late Permian (Large et al., 2014), in which case the Ni and Co may be associated with the Siberian traps volcanism and Permian mass extinction”
From Trace elements at the intersection of marine biological and geochemical evolution (2016) · cites this paper as Rothman et al., 2014
An expansion of the marine nickel reservoir coincident with massive eruptions of the Siberian flood basalts around 252.8 Ma is suggested to have contributed to the severity of the Permian mass extinction.
“An expansion of the marine nickel reservoir, coincident with massive eruptions of the Siberian flood basalts around 252.8 Ma, is suggested to have contributed to the severity of the mass extinction”
From Trace elements at the intersection of marine biological and geochemical evolution (2016) · cites this paper as Rothman et al., 2014
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References 49 · Cited by 169
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Rampino MR, Prokoph A, Adler A (2000) Tempo of the end-Permian event: High- resolution cyclostratigraphy at the Permian-Triassic boundary. Geology 28(7):643-646.
- Kaiho K, et al. (2001) End-Permian catastrophe by a bolide impact: Evidence of a gigantic release of sulfur from the mantle. Geology 29(9):815-818.
- Authors
- Rothman, D. H., Fournier, G. P., French, K. L., Alm, E. J., Boyle, E. A., Cao, C., & Summons, R. E.
- Affiliations
- Lorentz Center (NL)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, and
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2014-03-31
- Volume
- 111
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 5462-5467
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3992638
- OpenAlex
- W2155926405
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 11
- FWCI
- 13.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0936234, 1122374, 0930866)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNA08CN84A, NNA13AA90A, 1122374)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China ((41290260), 1122374)
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2011CB808905)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- end-Permian mass extinction, methanogenesis, Methanosarcina, acetoclastic methanogenesis, South China Sea sediments, Permian-Triassic boundary
- MeSH terms
- Carbon Isotopes, China, Biological Evolution, Methane, Nickel, Oceans and Seas, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Methanosarcina, Volcanic Eruptions, Geologic Sediments, History, Ancient, Extinction, Biological, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Carbon Cycle
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