YAGUMETs! Flood Basalt Eruptions Mass Extinction Impacts are Depend on WHERE the Eruption Takes Place

The effects of large igneous provinces on the global carbon and sulphur cycles

Authors:

Jones et al

Abstract:

The correlation between large igneous provinces (LIPs), extinction events, and rapid climate change suggests that volcanism can have a detrimental impact on Earth surface conditions. Changes in atmospheric and ocean chemistry, particularly the climate-sensitive carbon and sulphur cycles, are among the most probable processes for inducing global environmental stress. However, the interactions and feedbacks between volcanism and these cycles are numerous and complex, making the characterisation of the response to a LIP challenging. Here we summarise the sources and sinks of carbon and sulphur from large scale volcanism and magmatism using information from modern and ancient systems. For the sources, we review the current understanding of volcanic emissions, and explore the relative contributions and importance of magma-derived degassing versus volatile release from sediments affected by igneous intrusions and lava. In addition, we explore the various ways in which LIPs can reduce atmospheric concentrations of these same elements. The relative influences of each source and sink are in part determined by the mode of LIP emplacement and eruption style, along with the subsequent timescales of such effects. We focus on a few key examples, including the Siberian Traps, the Paraná-Etendeka, and the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), to demonstrate how the environmental impact can vary considerably with differing modes of emplacement, LIP duration, and eruption styles. In particular, we show that the host rocks can have a dominant role as a source or sink of emissions, depending on the lithologies affected by the LIP emplacement.

Periodicity Returns! Rampino Claims Impacts are 27 MY Apart, Tied to 5 Mass Extinctions

Periodic impact cratering and extinction events over the last 260 million years

Authors:

Rampino et al

Abstract:

The claims of periodicity in impact cratering and biological extinction events are controversial. A newly revised record of dated impact craters has been analyzed for periodicity, and compared with the record of extinctions over the past 260 Myr. A digital circular spectral analysis of 37 crater ages (ranging in age from 15 to 254 Myr ago) yielded evidence for a significant 25.8 ± 0.6 Myr cycle. Using the same method, we found a significant 27.0 ± 0.7 Myr cycle in the dates of the eight recognized marine extinction events over the same period. The cycles detected in impacts and extinctions have a similar phase. The impact crater dataset shows 11 apparent peaks in the last 260 Myr, at least 5 of which correlate closely with significant extinction peaks. These results suggest that the hypothesis of periodic impacts and extinction events is still viable.

YAGUMET STRIKE AGAIN! Dark Matter Did it! Blame DM for Mass Extinctions! Periodicity Returns!

Disc dark matter in the Galaxy and potential cycles of extraterrestrial impacts, mass extinctions and geological events

Author:

Rampino

Abstract:

A cycle in the range of 26–30 Myr has been reported in mass extinctions, and terrestrial impact cratering may exhibit a similar cycle of 31 ± 5 Myr. These cycles have been attributed to the Sun's vertical oscillations through the Galactic disc, estimated to take from ∼30 to 42 Myr between Galactic plane crossings. Near the Galactic mid-plane, the Solar system's Oort Cloud comets could be perturbed by Galactic tidal forces, and possibly a thin dark matter (DM) disc, which might produce periodic comet showers and extinctions on the Earth. Passage of the Earth through especially dense clumps of DM, composed of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in the Galactic plane, could also lead to heating in the core of the planet through capture and subsequent annihilation of DM particles. This new source of periodic heating in the Earth's interior might explain a similar ∼30 Myr periodicity observed in terrestrial geologic activity, which may also be involved in extinctions. These results suggest that cycles of geological and biological evolution on the Earth may be partly controlled by the rhythms of Galactic dynamics.

Again, YAGUMET.

YAGUMET STRIKE! Paper Attempts to Link Mass Extinctions & Giant Comet Impacts

Giant comets and mass extinctions of life

Author:

Napier

Abstract:

I find evidence for clustering in age of well-dated impact craters over the last 500 Myr. At least nine impact episodes are identified, with durations whose upper limits are set by the dating accuracy of the craters. Their amplitudes and frequency are inconsistent with an origin in asteroid breakups or Oort cloud disturbances, but are consistent with the arrival and disintegration in near-Earth orbits of rare, giant comets, mainly in transit from the Centaur population into the Jupiter family and Encke regions. About 1 in 10 Centaurs in Chiron-like orbits enter Earth-crossing epochs, usually repeatedly, each such epoch being generally of a few thousand years' duration. On time-scales of geological interest, debris from their breakup may increase the mass of the near-Earth interplanetary environment by two or three orders of magnitude, yielding repeated episodes of bombardment and stratospheric dusting. I find a strong correlation between these bombardment episodes and major biostratigraphic and geological boundaries, and propose that episodes of extinction are most effectively driven by prolonged encounters with meteoroid streams during bombardment episodes. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

Please take note of my Yet Another Grand Unified Mass Extinction Theory (YAGUMETS) and Stop Dreaming posts.

tl;dr: the evidence from the mass extinction must fit the perpetrator and each has its own distinctive fingerprints with the example of the Permian Extinction and KT/K-Pg Extinction (dino killer) as being very different.

Sulfur Very Important for Volcanicly Driven Mass Extinctions?

Microanalyses link sulfur from large igneous provinces and Mesozoic mass extinctions

Authors:

Callegro et al

Abstract:

Volcanic gases can have devastating impacts on Earth's environment and life. However, measurement of volatile elements in prehistoric magmas is challenging. We present a new method for determining sulfur contents in magmas using its concentrations in clinopyroxenes and an experimentally determined crystal-melt partition coefficient. Using this method we compared magmatic sulfur contents in the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province (LIP; South America) and two other similarly sized LIPs, the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) and the Deccan Traps (India). We found that the CAMP and Deccan Traps, both associated with major extinction events, contained high magmatic sulfur concentrations, up to 1900 ppm. Conversely, the Paraná-Etendeka LIP, lacking significant environmental effects, had substantially lower magmatic sulfur concentrations, less than 800 ppm.

They ought to look at the Permian Extinction/Siberian Traps.  I am a bit surprised they did not.  And, again, the Deccan Traps have dinosaur fossils below, between and above the lava flows.

Using Vegetation Patterns from the KT/K-Pg Mass Extinction for Comparison

The global vegetation pattern across the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction interval: A template for other extinction events

Authors:

Vajda et al

Abstract:

Changes in pollen and spore assemblages across the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary elucidate the vegetation response to a global environmental crisis triggered by an asteroid impact in Mexico 66 Ma. The Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary clay, associated with the Chicxulub asteroid impact event, constitutes a unique, global marker bed enabling comparison of the world-wide palynological signal spanning the mass extinction event. The data from both hemispheres are consistent, revealing diverse latest Cretaceous assemblages of pollen and spores that were affected by a major diversity loss as a consequence of the K–Pg event. Here we combine new results with past studies to provide an integrated global perspective of the terrestrial vegetation record across the K–Pg boundary. We further apply the K–Pg event as a template to asses the causal mechanism behind other major events in Earths history. The end-Permian, end-Triassic, and the K–Pg mass-extinctions were responses to different causal processes that resulted in essentially similar succession of decline and recovery phases, although expressed at different temporal scales. The events share a characteristic pattern of a bloom of opportunistic "crisis" tax followed by a pulse in pioneer communities, and finally a recovery in diversity including evolution of new taxa.

Based on their similar extinction and recovery patterns and the fact that Last and First Appearance Datums associated with the extinctions are separated in time, we recommend using the K–Pg event as a model and to use relative abundance data for the stratigraphic definition of mass-extinction events and the placement of associated chronostratigraphic boundaries.

Late Maastrichtian Cretaceous Vertebrate Fauna From India has Enormous Implications

A new Late Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from the Cauvery Basin, South India: implications for Gondwanan paleobiogeography

Authors:

Guntupalli V. R. Prasad, Omkar Verma, John J. Flynn & Anjali Goswami

Abstract:

Late Cretaceous vertebrate faunas of India are known predominantly from intertrappean deposits in the Deccan volcanic province of the central and western parts of the country. A thick and nearly continuous sequence of Early Cretaceous–Early Paleocene fossiliferous sediments exposed in the Cauvery Basin of South India has been comparatively poorly explored. Here, we present a preliminary description of a new fauna consisting of vertebrate fossils discovered from the continental Upper Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) Kallamedu Formation. The Kallamedu Fauna includes ganoid fishes, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, and dinosaurs, with many taxa suggesting Late Cretaceous biotic links between India and other Gondwanan landmasses. Teeth of abelisaurid dinosaurs, known previously from the Middle Jurassic of South America and the Late Cretaceous of Africa, Madagascar, and central and western India, support a pan-Gondwanan distribution for this group of theropod dinosaurs. Of greatest significance, however, is the first discovery of a Simosuchus-like notosuchian crocodile outside of Madagascar. This report of the first Indian Simosuchus-like notosuchian crocodile further strengthens earlier evidence from other vertebrate groups for close biotic links between India and Madagascar in the Late Cretaceous, most likely through dispersal via the Seychelles block, Amirante Ridge, and Providence Bank.

There are multiple implications here.

1. The one covered directly in the paper.  That is to say, there were links with the rest of Gondwana during the late Maastrichtian and especially with Madagascar.  This is probably through island hopping rather than land bridges.

2.  And this is the one which really interests me.  There was a healthy, diverse dinosaur filled ecology at ground zero for the Deccan Traps while the Deccan Traps were erupting.  Ruminate on that.  Seriously. The vulcanists might have just taken it in the shorts again.

3.  WE HAVE A NEW TERRESTRIAL CONTIGUOUS SECTION ACROSS THE K-T/K-Pg Boundar.  Hell Creek, you have a buddy now.  This is enormously important.  And I bet we'll see it studied as all get out to compare to the North American locality.  Our sample size will have just jumped from one to two.  ;)

Some Astronomers Won't Give Up: Periodicity & Mass Extinctions Rides Again

Mass Extinction And The Structure Of The Milky Way

Authors:

1. M. D. Filipović (a)
2. J. Horner (b,c)
3. E. J. Crawford (a)
4. N. F. H. Tothill (a)

Affiliations:

a. University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia

b. School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

c. Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

Abstract:

We use the most up to date Milky Way model and solar orbit data in order to test the hypothesis that the Sun's galactic spiral arm crossings cause mass extinction events on Earth. To do this, we created a new model of the Milky Way's spiral arms by combining a large quantity of data from several surveys. We then combined this model with a recently derived solution for the solar orbit to determine the timing of the Sun's historical passages through the Galaxy's spiral arms. Our new model was designed with a symmetrical appearance, with the major alteration being the addition of a spur at the far side of the Galaxy. A correlation was found between the times at which the Sun crosses the spiral arms and six known mass extinction events. Furthermore, we identify five additional historical mass extinction events that might be explained by the motion of the Sun around our Galaxy. These five additional significant drops in marine genera that we find include significant reductions in diversity at 415, 322, 300, 145 and 33 Myr ago. Our simulations indicate that the Sun has spent ~60% of its time passing through our Galaxy's various spiral arms. Also, we briefly discuss and combine previous work on the Galactic Habitable Zone with the new Milky Way model.

The problem with periodicity is the extinctions in question often have wildly disparate basal causes.  Periodicity requires a single driver which is extraterrestrial in nature.  Exceedingly few of these look like that is even a remote possibility: especially the Eocene.

Late Triassic Mass Extinction Shows Common Patterns with the Permian Extinction

Elevated pCO2 leading to Late Triassic extinction, persistent photic zone euxinia, and rising sea levels

Authors:

1. Caroline M.B. Jaraula (a)
2. Kliti Grice (a)
3. Richard J. Twitchett (b)
4. Michael E. Böttcher (c)
5. Pierre LeMetayer (a)
6. Apratim G. Dastidar (a)
7. L. Felipe Opazo (b)

Affiliations:

a. Curtin University, Western Australia Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia

b. Plymouth University, Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK

c. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Geochemistry & Isotope Geochemistry Group, Marine Geology Section, Warnemünde, D-18119 Rostock, Germany

Abstract:

The Late Triassic mass extinction event is the most severe global warming-related crisis to have affected important extant marine groups such as scleractinian corals, and offers potential insights into climate change scenarios. Here we present evidence from Chlorobi-derived biomarkers of episodic and persistent photic zone euxinia. From biomarkers and stable carbon isotopes, we present evidence of rapid mixing of atmospheric and oceanic carbon reservoirs. Global versus regional trends are resolved in kerogen organic matter type, carbonate δ13C, and bulk and pyrite δ34S. This suite of data demonstrates for the first time a comprehensive organic and stable isotope geochemical reconstruction of events leading up to the Late Triassic extinction event and its aftermath. The cascade of events prior to, during, and after the extinction is remarkably similar to those reported for the Late Permian extinction, the largest extinction event of the Phanerozoic. We predict that similar conditions will have occurred during all past episodes of rapid global warming and biotic crisis that are associated with similar rises in pCO2.

Permian Extinction Caused by Explosive Rather Than Flood Basalt Volcanism

In a paper published in the November 2012 issue of the journal Geology, Algeo and colleagues from the China University of Geosciences track patterns of carbon isotope ratios associated with volcanic ash layers preserved in southern China rock layers. In particular, the team looked at two rock successions preserving finely layered marine deposits that record volcanic activity from before the end of the Permian period (252 million years ago) through the early part of the next geologic period, the Triassic. These successions contain layers recording events during the crisis that resulted in the extinction of some 90 percent of marine species on Earth.

"These sections have not been studied in detail geochemically," Algeo said. "Because they are deep-marine deposits, they record a very detailed and complete sequence of events. This is something you generally don't find in terrestrial or shallow-marine rocks."

The evidence, Algeo said, demonstrates a volcanic cause of the end-Permian crisis. Volcanic activity contributed to the environmental degradation that accompanied the main extinction horizon at the end of the Permian.

Some researchers have hypothesized that the biotic crisis and mass extinction were caused by the Siberian Traps, a large flood basalt province that erupted approximately 252 million years ago, coinciding more or less with the mass extinction. "This connection has been inferred on the basis of similarities in age and, thus, is circumstantial," Algeo said.

"We demonstrate for the first time that the Permian-Triassic biotic crisis was probably triggered by enormous explosive volcanic eruptions," Algeo said. "We suspect that the ash layers in the Chinese PTB sections are linked to the Siberian Traps, although more research will be needed to verify this."

At the heart of their analysis, the co-authors identify significant changes in the ratio of carbon isotopes at each ash layer in the Chinese sections. This implies large releases of isotopically light, organically derived carbon dioxide or methane with each eruptive event. "This is consistent with large-scale injection of magma into the organic-rich sediments of the West Siberian coal province," Algeo said.

According to Algeo, the Chinese deposits have to potential to clarify the mechanisms that almost wiped out all life on Earth 252 million years ago, and to help in better constraining the timing of the Siberian Traps eruptions.

In earlier research at a variety of locations around the globe, Algeo had compiled evidence that the Permian-Triassic extinction, unlike the more famous Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction in which the large dinosaurs went extinct, was a gradual process. The final extinction event may have been preceded by hundreds of thousands of years of environmental stress. The China research supports this hypothesis of gradual steps toward a dramatic extinction event. The accumulating evidence, he said, points to a very different mechanism, and a far more devastating result, than the end-Cretaceous bolide impact.

"It's becoming clear that almost every mass extinction has a different cause," Algeo said.

Link to the paper. I'm reading. While I am THRILLED that the researcher has rejected YAGUMETs, I am cautious about declaring that this EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.  Its a data point.  A strong one.  However, its not one that necessary explains everything.  Let's see how it fits into the larger picture.  With all due respect to Dr Algeo, the PT Event explanations better than coincidence that environmental degradation was the problem.