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Episodic magmatism at the Permian/Triassic crisis boundary and its linkage to underlying source rocks: constraints from conodont-based high-resolution geochemical proxies in marine carbonate successions, South China

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Abstract

Frequent magmatism was a major event causing the mass extinction across the Permian/Triassic Boundary. In the current study, we determined magmatism characteristics from the Pingdingshan section at the Permian/Triassic Boundary using conodont-based geochemical proxies at a high-resolution scale (~ 50 kyr). Integrated trace elements (Mn, Sr, Rb, and Th) and stable/radioactive isotopes (δ18O, δ13C, and 87Sr/86Sr) revealed that conodonts provided an ideal proxy for chemostratigraphic signatures of ancient seawater. The conodont-based, high-resolution 87Sr/86Sr isotopes from the studied interval (250.50–252.00 Ma) displayed three decreasing cycles upwardly against a long-term increasing background, reflecting three episodes of magmatism. As a contrast, the conodont-based, high-resolution δ18O isotopes from this interval exhibited no episodic pattern, indicating that the δ18O isotopes of conodonts were limitedly influenced by marine magmatism. The high-resolution δ13C values of micrites displayed a pattern consistent with the trend of long-term background, revealing that the δ13C signatures of episodic magmatism were not inherited by micrites. The magmatism associated with the EPME event exerted great influences upon the Chihsian source rocks by introducing massive heat through hydrothermal fluids and causing pervasive oceanic anoxia.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Kangjun Wu from Chongqing University of Science and Technology is thanked for assistance in field sampling guidance.

Funding

The current study is jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42002159) and the Foundation of National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing (No. PRE/open-2301).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geosciences and Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an, 710065, Shaanxi, China

    Chao Liu, Tanen Jiang & Jiayu Li

  2. National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China

    Chao Liu

  3. Shaanxi Key Lab of Petroleum Accumulation Geology, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an, 710065, Shaanxi, China

    Chao Liu

  4. Twelfth Oil Production Plant, Changqing Oil Field Company of PetroChina, Heshui, 745400, Gansu, China

    Jing Ding, Wenzhao Sun, Xueying Luan & Mengsen Feng

  5. Langfang Brand, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Langfang, 065099, Hebei, China

    Shasha Sun

  6. Hubei Geological Bureau, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Yong Yang

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  1. Chao Liu
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Contributions

CL: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original draft. JD: formal analysis, investigation, data curation, methodology. WS: formal analysis, investigation, data curation, methodology. XL: formal analysis, investigation, data curation, methodology. SS: conceptualization, coordination, project administration. YY: methodology, formal analysis. MF: methodology, investigation, formal analysis. TJ: resources, investigation, data curation. JL: resources, investigation, data curation.

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Correspondence to Shasha Sun.

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Liu, C., Ding, J., Sun, W. et al. Episodic magmatism at the Permian/Triassic crisis boundary and its linkage to underlying source rocks: constraints from conodont-based high-resolution geochemical proxies in marine carbonate successions, South China. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 113, 93–105 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-023-02357-8

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