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Effect of end-Triassic CO2 maximum on carbonate sedimentation and marine mass extinction

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Abstract

Correlation of stratigraphic sections from different continents suggests a worldwide interruption of carbonate sedimentation at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, which coincided with one of the most catastrophic mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic. Both events are linked by a vulcanogenic maximum of carbon dioxide, which led to a temporary undersaturation of sea water with respect to aragonite and calcite and a corresponding suppression of carbonate sedimentation including non-preservation of calcareous skeletons. Besides the frequently cited climatic effect of enhanced carbon dioxide, lowering the saturation state of sea water with respect to calcium carbonate was an additional driving force of the end-Triassic mass extinction, which chiefly affected organisms with thick aragonitic or high-magnesium calcitic skeletons. Replacement of aragonite by calcite, as found in the shells of epifaunal bivalves, was an evolutionary response to this condition.

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Acknowledgements

The manuscript benefited from comments by A. Freiwald, F.T. Fürsich, A. Hallam and J. Pálfy. A. von Hillebrandt kindly provided the photo of the T–J boundary in Peru (Fig. 1D). This paper is a contribution to the IGCP Project 458: Triassic–Jurassic boundary events.

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  1. Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Würzburg, Pleicherwall 1, 97070 , Würzburg, Germany

    Michael Hautmann

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  1. Michael Hautmann
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Correspondence to Michael Hautmann.

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Hautmann, M. Effect of end-Triassic CO2 maximum on carbonate sedimentation and marine mass extinction. Facies 50, 257–261 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-004-0020-y

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