Catastrophic ocean acidification at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary

Authors: Hautmann, Michael; Benton, Michael J.; Tomašových, Adam

Source: Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen, Volume 249, Number 1, July 2008 , pp. 119-127(9)

Publisher: E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung

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Abstract:

Palaeobotanical and geochemical evidence indicate a sudden rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, probably reflecting the combined effect of extensive volcanic degassing and thermal dissociation of marine gas hydrates. Using carbon isotopes as a geochemical marker, we found that the onset of the CO₂ emissions coincided with an interruption of carbonate sedimentation in palaeogeographically distant regions, suggesting that hydrolysis of CO₂ led to a short but substantial decrease of seawater pH that slowed down or inhibited precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals. The cessation of carbonate sedimentation correlates with a major marine extinction event, which especially affected organisms with aragonitic or high-Mg calcitic skeletons and little physiological control of biocalcification. These findings strengthen current concerns that ocean acidification from industrial CO₂ release threatens biotopes that are dominated by such organisms, in particular tropical reef systems.

Keywords: OCEAN ACIDIFICATION; BIOMINERALIZATION; SKELETAL MINERALOGY; MASS EXTINCTION; TRIASSIC; JURASSIC

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0249-0119

Publication date: 2008-07-01

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