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Abstract
The arid climate of the Late Triassic was interrupted by a particularly humid episode known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE; ca. 234–232 million years ago). The CPE is often linked to eruptions in the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province (LIP), and is assumed to have led to global warming, enhanced weathering, water deoxygenation, and biotic changes. However, direct evidence for a temporal link between volcanic activity and chemical weathering has not yet been established due to the lack of comprehensive records across the CPE. In this study, geochemical and mineralogical analyses are applied to a lacustrine stratigraphic succession of the Jiyuan Basin (North China) that captures the CPE in high resolution. We identify four distinct pulses of enhanced continental chemical weathering characterized by elevated Chemical Index of Alteration values and kaolinite contents. These peaks in continental weathering coincide with Hg/TOC enrichments and negative organic carbon isotope excursions that mark four short (~400 kyr) but intense pulses of Wrangellia LIP volcanism. In combination with signs of increased humidity, our findings provide direct and independent evidence that Wrangellia LIP eruptions significantly altered CPE chemical weathering rates in response to global warming and wetting. The lake experienced eutrophication and water deoxygenation after each volcanic pulse but the swift recovery of carbon isotopes suggests that the system rapidly returned to conditions prior to the volcanic perturbation. Organic carbon burial facilitated by widespread dysoxic and anoxic waters, and CO2 consumption via enhanced weathering likely played crucial roles in the rapid climatic recovery after each volcanic pulse.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 118517 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
Volume | 626 |
Early online date | 14 Dec 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Suping Peng and Shifeng Dai (China University of Mining and Technology Beijing) and Sarah E. Greene (University of Birmingham) for their comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We also thank Andrew Jacobson and two anonymous reviewers for constructive and helpful reviews and comments on the manuscript. Financial support was provided by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFF0800203/01), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 42172196, 41772161, and 41472131), the Fund of Henan University of Urban Construction (K-Q2023019), and the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) award NE/W009625/1.
Keywords
- Late Triassic
- Carnian Pluvial Episode
- Paleoclimate
- Continental weathering
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NERC-NSFGEO C-FORCE: Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks from Response to Carbon Emissions
Jones, S., Greene, S. & Capriolo, M.
Natural Environment Research Council
1/11/22 → 31/10/27
Project: Research Councils