Journal
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
Volume 448, Issue -, Pages 339-348Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.07.018
Keywords
Hirnantian; Mass extinction; Glaciation; Nitrogen cycle; N2O; South China
Funding
- 973 program [2011CB808800]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41221001, 41290260, 41303001]
- Ministry of Science and Technology Foundation Project
- 111 project [B08030]
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) [133108]
- Simons Foundation
- NSF-EAR Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology
- NASA Exobiology
- China University of Geosciences-Wuhan [GPMR201301, BGL21407]
- IGCP Project [591]
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The Late Ordovician was a critical interval in geologic history, during which both the biosphere and marine environments underwent severe perturbations, including one of the 'Big Five' Phanerozoic mass extinctions and the massive but short-term (similar to 0.5-Myr) Hirnantian glaciation. The onset and termination of the Hirnantian glaciation have been widely accepted as the triggers for the two extinction pulses that comprise the Late Ordovician biocrisis, but the mechanisms that caused the Hirnantian glaciation itself remain poorly known. Here, we analyze the nitrogen isotope composition (delta N-15) of two sections in South China (Wangjiawan and Nanbazi) in order to better understand nitrogen cycle perturbations in the Late Ordovician ocean and their relationship to contemporaneous climatic and biogeochemical changes. Low delta N-15 (similar to 1 parts per thousand) in the upper Katian and lower Rhuddanian of both sections suggests intensive (i.e., near-quantitative) denitrification and, thus, nitrogen fixation as the main source of biologically available nitrogen for primary producers. A positive delta N-15 excursion in both sections during the Hirnantian indicates weaker (i.e., non-quantitative) denitrification, possibly as a result of more vigorous thermohaline circulation and improved ocean ventilation. Weaker denitrification would have reduced the flux of N2O, an intermediate product of denitrification, to the atmosphere. N2O is a potent greenhouse gas, and a major decline in its production would have led to cooler climatic conditions and, ultimately, the Hirnantian glaciation. A global survey of published nitrogen isotope records suggests that similar processes operated broadly within the Late Ordovician global ocean. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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