Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland
Flood basalt volcanism has been implicated in several episodes of mass extinctions and environmental degradation in the geological past, including at the Triassic–Jurassic (Tr–J) transition, through global warming caused by massive outgassing of carbon dioxide. However, the patterns of biodiversity...
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:121981 2023-05-15T16:03:38+02:00 Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland Steinthorsdottir, M Elliott-Kingston, C Bacon, KL 2018-03 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/15/10.1007_s12549-017-0297-9.pdf en eng Springer Verlag https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/15/10.1007_s12549-017-0297-9.pdf Steinthorsdottir, M, Elliott-Kingston, C and Bacon, KL orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-5107 (2018) Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 98 (1). pp. 49-69. ISSN 1867-1594 cc_by_4 CC-BY Article NonPeerReviewed 2018 ftleedsuniv 2023-01-30T21:59:15Z Flood basalt volcanism has been implicated in several episodes of mass extinctions and environmental degradation in the geological past, including at the Triassic–Jurassic (Tr–J) transition, through global warming caused by massive outgassing of carbon dioxide. However, the patterns of biodiversity loss observed are complicated and sometimes difficult to reconcile with the effects of global warming alone. Recently, attention has turned to additional volcanic products as potential aggravating factors, in particular sulphur dioxide (SO₂). SO₂ acts both directly as a noxious environmental pollutant and indirectly through forming aerosols in the atmosphere, which may cause transient global dimming and cooling. Here, we present a range of morphological changes to fossil plant leaf cuticle surfaces of hundreds of Ginkgoales and Bennettitales specimens across the Tr–J boundary of East Greenland. Our results indicate that morphological structures of distorted cuticles near the Tr–J boundary are consistent with modern cuticle SO₂-caused damage and supported by recent leaf-shape SO₂ proxy results, thus identifying cuticle surface morphology as a potentially powerful proxy for SO₂. Recording the timing and duration of SO₂ emissions in the past may help distinguish between the driving agents responsible for mass extinction events and thus improve our understanding of the Earth System. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Greenland |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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language |
English |
description |
Flood basalt volcanism has been implicated in several episodes of mass extinctions and environmental degradation in the geological past, including at the Triassic–Jurassic (Tr–J) transition, through global warming caused by massive outgassing of carbon dioxide. However, the patterns of biodiversity loss observed are complicated and sometimes difficult to reconcile with the effects of global warming alone. Recently, attention has turned to additional volcanic products as potential aggravating factors, in particular sulphur dioxide (SO₂). SO₂ acts both directly as a noxious environmental pollutant and indirectly through forming aerosols in the atmosphere, which may cause transient global dimming and cooling. Here, we present a range of morphological changes to fossil plant leaf cuticle surfaces of hundreds of Ginkgoales and Bennettitales specimens across the Tr–J boundary of East Greenland. Our results indicate that morphological structures of distorted cuticles near the Tr–J boundary are consistent with modern cuticle SO₂-caused damage and supported by recent leaf-shape SO₂ proxy results, thus identifying cuticle surface morphology as a potentially powerful proxy for SO₂. Recording the timing and duration of SO₂ emissions in the past may help distinguish between the driving agents responsible for mass extinction events and thus improve our understanding of the Earth System. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steinthorsdottir, M Elliott-Kingston, C Bacon, KL |
spellingShingle |
Steinthorsdottir, M Elliott-Kingston, C Bacon, KL Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
author_facet |
Steinthorsdottir, M Elliott-Kingston, C Bacon, KL |
author_sort |
Steinthorsdottir, M |
title |
Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
title_short |
Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
title_full |
Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland |
title_sort |
cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic so₂ emissions: observations from the triassic–jurassic transition of east greenland |
publisher |
Springer Verlag |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/15/10.1007_s12549-017-0297-9.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/121981/15/10.1007_s12549-017-0297-9.pdf Steinthorsdottir, M, Elliott-Kingston, C and Bacon, KL orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-5107 (2018) Cuticle surfaces of fossil plants as a potential proxy for volcanic SO₂ emissions: observations from the Triassic–Jurassic transition of East Greenland. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 98 (1). pp. 49-69. ISSN 1867-1594 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766399330617393152 |